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Former DoJ Civil Rights Analyst on Why He Left: "It Didn’t Make A Difference"
Here's Toby Moore, formerly a redistricting expert under John Tanner in the voting rights section, explaining why he, and so many other career employees left the Civil Rights Division.
Moore explained that he'd left because he'd found there was "no sense" in doing his work "if it didn’t make a difference in the decisions being made." Tanner and the political appointees above him, Moore explained, decided issues "of significance and controversy" (like whether to approve Georgia's voter ID law) based on "political expediency." So Moore, and many other career analysts and attorneys, left.
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Comments (5)
Future wrote on October 30, 2007 3:50 PM:Dr. Moore is my hero. It must have been difficult for him to come forward in light of all that he has been through and he proved today that he made the right recommendation in the GA ID case.
Yvette & the Toaster wrote on October 30, 2007 8:27 PM:Just a tale from the Voting Section to highlight the character, or lack thereof, of Acting Deputy Chief of Section 5, YVETTE RIVERA. A black staffer noticed that her toaster was missing. She sent around an email to the Section, asking if anyone had seen it. Some staffers consequently learned that an intern took the toaster, after being told by RIVERA that he could, even though it was not hers to give. Now when the email went around asking for the toaster, and when a note was placed on the bulletin board, a normal, moral person would send an email to the staffer saying "oh, I'm so sorry I did not realize that belonged to you, and I gave an intern permission to take it. Let me know how much it cost, and I will be happy to replace it." That is what I would do, and what I assume you all reading would do as well. But no, not RIVERA. She clearly read the email, has seen the bulletin board, yet weeks continue to pass, and she remains silent...Yvette, we know you read these, and we want you to know that WE KNOW you are behind this! And you want us to respect you when you lie and hide little mistakes like this? Now how can we respect you when you tell lie after lie, ask staff to spy on each other, and treat black staff SO differently than non-black staff?
On the defense wrote on October 30, 2007 8:49 PM:Maybe Yvette thought that black people don't eat toast.
The Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison not H. G. Wells) wrote on October 30, 2007 8:50 PM:Members of the House,
You've heard Dr. Moore's testimony and you know all is not well with the Voting Section right now. Good, upstanding people with scruples and integrity, who dedicated themselves to upholding the foundations and principles of the Voting Rights Act have been driven from the temple and replaced with conniving, deceitful charlatans who circumvent the VRA and reign over the Voting Section with the brutality of third-world tyrants. The 2008 presidential race could be at stake, if something is not done to ensure that the poor and disenfranchised get their voices heard at the polling place! It all starts at the very top!
Fight the power and always question those in authority....
Liz wrote on October 30, 2007 10:10 PM:It's not just the voting rights section.... Try disability discrimination too.