07/06/10
Earlier today I had the opportunity to attend the United States Commission on Civil Rights’ hearing on the U.S. Department of Justice and the New Black Panther Party litigation. The testimony by the hearing's lone witness, former DoJ lawyer J. Christian Adams, was nothing short of extraordinary.
During the 2008 presidential election, members of the New Black Panther Party were caught on videotape brandishing a nightstick and hurling racial taunts at white and black voters as they sought entry to a polling station in Philadelphia.
Following the irrefutable evidence caught on film of voter intimidation, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against three individuals and the Black Panther Party itself for violating Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act — which prohibits intimidation, threats and coercion. When none of the named defendants nor the New Black Panther Party showed up for trial in April 2009, a default judgment was entered in favor of the government.
… snip … After the government had won its case in the absence of the defense to present itself, the Department of Justice abruptly changed course and sought to voluntarily dismiss the charges against three of the defendants while giving a slap on the hand to another by telling him that he was not able to go to Philadelphia polling stations through the 2012 elections.
… snip …
In emotional testimony, J. Christian Adams, until last week a member of the DoJ's Voting Section — he resigned in protest over the department's handling of the case — told a stunned hearing room why he felt the case had been dropped. In no uncertain terms, Adams noted that senior officials within the Obama Justice Department had told employees that they were not to bring voting-rights cases where the alleged victim in the case was white.
Thanks Obama and Holder for keeping the white man down. 
