Free Republic

He attacks Obama's co-opting of the DOJ for the advancement of leftism, not justice. Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey delivered a sharp criticism of the Obama Justice Department, particularly the DOJ Voting Section, in a speech republished in Hillsdale College’s Imprimis . In a broadside aimed at the Obama-era DOJ, Mukasey hits the department’s biased and partisan law enforcement policies. Mukasey’s speech should be required reading for every presidential campaign. Mukasey revisits the dismissal of the voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party by Eric Holder and other political appointees shortly after the 2009 inauguration: During the 2008...

After the Court's Shelby decision, dozens of DOJ lawyers have nothing to do. But not one has been laid off. Hans von Spakovsky has the inside scoop of the new omnibus spending bill. Most notably, the new bill funds the government jobs of dozens Department of Justice employees who no longer have any work to do after the Supreme Court struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act. Von Spakovsky writes: Of course, the other thing needed with the Civil Rights Division is a cutback in its budget, which has grown considerably, and gives Eric Holder the resources to...

The Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice has shown its hand to Congress. It wants more money and federal employees in the Voting Section.   What is the new litigation priority?  Dead people on the voter rolls?  Minority vote dilution?  Helping Spanish speaking voters?  Nope.  As reported last week in the Washington Examiner, those issues are genuinely "closed for business" at the Holder DOJ. Instead, the DOJ has told Congress in this document  that they want more money and staff, get this, to ensure that welfare and other public assistance agencies are registering as many voters as possible.  Section 7 of the Motor Voter law...

While most Americans with jobs will be busy flipping burgers, driving trucks or cleaning offices, Friday should be fun for all the Federal employees at the Voting Section at the Department of Justice. It’s “Field Trip” day to the federal court. Arguments will be heard in the case of Laroque v. Holder. This morning, an invitation went out to all 89 Voting Section employees encouraging them to leave work and trek across town to sit in on a court hearing. These are federal employees who are not assigned to work on the case being heard on Friday. They have...

SAN FRANCISCO — What is the quietest spot in Washington, D.C.? The Rose Garden? The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier? Actually, it’s the Justice Department’s Voting Section. Justice’s unit that allegedly fights disenfranchisement lately has been caught dozing while at least nine states too slowly deliver absentee ballots to overseas GIs. Too many military votes thus may go uncounted in November. In yet another outrage, the Voting Section is static while the rolls of at least 16 states evidently list ineligible voters, including non-residents, disqualified felons, and – yes – dead people. Justice’s response? “ZZZZZZzzzzzz......” Even worse, the Big Sleep...

The news that Christopher Coates, former chief of the Justice Department’s Voting Section, is set to testify Friday before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is crucial to the panel’s investigation of allegations that the Obama administration has not enforced the nation’s civil rights laws in a race-neutral manner.

Accusations that the Voting Section of the Department of Justice is poisoned by politics are not new and neither are its loudest critics.  In the fall of 2007, those declaring that the George W. Bush Administration used the Voting Section to achieve a political purpose got their day in “court.”  On October 30, 2007, former Voting Section Chief John Tanner testified to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties.  He was called to testify following his decision to pre-clear a law in Georgia requiring that voters present photo identification at the polls.[1]  He stated that...

Veteran Civil Rights Division attorney Christopher Coates is no longer chief of the Voting Section, according to the division’s Web site. There was no official announcement of the personnel change in the long-troubled section, which most recently has been embroiled in the controversy over the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case. Main Justice noticed the change on the Voting Section Web site. Taking over for Coates in an acting role is Chris Herren, a deputy chief of the section, according to the Web site. Alejandro Miyar, a spokesman for the Civil Rights Division, wasn’t available for comment Sunday. Coates...