Joe Arpaio

Sheriff Joe Arpaio Agrees To Cooperate On Discrimination Probe

Ryan J. Reilly | February 7, 2012, 9:55AM

Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Updated Feb. 7 2:20PM

After claiming the allegations of civil rights violations by his Maricopa County Sheriff's Office were part of President Barack Obama's reelection bid, Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office said in a statement Monday that they had agreed to work together with the Justice Department to "develop a document that addresses any agreed upon improvements needed."

Both Arpaio and DOJ are "committed to avoiding unnecessary and expensive litigation by the creation of an enforceable agreement which will lead to sustainable reforms and positive results for all citizens of Maricopa County," according to a statement from the Sheriff's office.

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Joe Arpaio

Sheriff Joe Arpaio: DOJ 'Sneak Attack' Is Just Part Of Obama's Reelection Bid (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | December 16, 2011, 3:35PM

Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Friday that the Justice Department's extensive three-and-a-half-year probe of his Maricopa County Sheriff's Office was all just part of a bid for President Obama to win the Hispanic vote in 2012, even though the investigation began five months before Obama was even elected.

Responding to the Civil Rights Division's findings that Arpaio "promoted a culture of bias" within the MCSO where detention officers called Latino inmates "wetbacks" and "Mexican bitches," Arpaio took to Fox News on Friday afternoon to criticize Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez for opening up DOJ's Thursday press conference with the words "buenos dias."

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Alabama

Feds Tug On Purse Strings Of Alabama Cops Over Immigration Law Enforcement

Ryan J. Reilly | December 6, 2011, 7:55PM

The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division has taken the unusual step of warning 156 local law enforcement agencies in Alabama that they'll lose their federal funding if they don't comply with federal civil rights laws when enforcing the state's harsh immigration law.

"As you undertake law enforcement activity under H.B. 56, it is critical that your enforcement of this law does not result in the unlawful stopping, questioning, searching, detaining, or arresting of persons in violation of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, or in the targeting of racial or ethnic minorities in a manner that violates the Fourteenth Amendment," Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez wrote in a letter dated Friday and sent to reporters on Tuesday.

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Voting Rights Act

DOJ: Texas Has Provided 'Incomplete' Information In Probe Of Rick Perry Signed Voter ID Law

Ryan J. Reilly | November 16, 2011, 5:45PM

Governor Rick Perry (R-TX)

Texas provided "incomplete" information that does not enable federal officials to determine whether their proposed voter ID law would be discriminatory, the Justice Department said in a letter Wednesday.

Essentially, the letter from DOJ Civil Rights Division Voting Section Chief T. Christian Herren Jr. restarts the clock on when the Department has to make a decision about whether the law signed by Gov. Rick Perry complies with the Voting Rights Act. They have 60 days from when Texas sends them complete information.

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Joe Lieberman

DOJ To Senators: Don't Blame Us For The Anti-Muslim Training We Funded

Ryan J. Reilly | October 21, 2011, 6:00AM

The Justice Department has a message for the Senators worried that federal funds are flowing to anti-Muslim training programs: no worries, we've got this thing.

TPM obtained a copy of a letter DOJ sent to Sens. Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins nearly six months after the lawmakers first asked for answers about biased counterterrorism training sessions being funded by taxpayers.

Basically there are two ways that federal dollars from the Justice Department could potentially fund biased training. First, there's DOJ's State and Local Anti-Terrorism Training (SLATT) program, which officials say they've got a pretty good handle on.

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Barack Obama

What The Justice Department Can Actually Do About Voter ID Laws

Ryan J. Reilly | October 5, 2011, 5:45AM

President Barack Obama last week told a radio audience that he's made sure the Justice Department is reviewing restrictive voting laws passed across the country. But as a practical matter, DOJ's reach is limited.

Sure, federal officials with DOJ's Civil Rights Division are reviewing voter ID laws passed in South Carolina and Texas because both states have a history of discrimination and are covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. DOJ told South Carolina in August that they need more info before making a decision and in September told Texas they have more questions.

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Nikki Haley

Nikki Haley's South Carolina To Give Rides To 22 Voters To Get Photo IDs

Ryan J. Reilly | September 27, 2011, 4:15PM

Nikki Haley

Arguing last month that the voter ID law she signed into law in May wasn't discriminatory, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley offered to give voters free rides to obtain their photo ID from the DMV. 22 people took her up on it.

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Rick Perry

What DOJ Tossing Texas' Redistricting Plan Means For Rick Perry

Ryan J. Reilly | September 20, 2011, 6:30AM

As if Rick Perry needed another reason to dislike the federal government.

The Justice Department's decision to oppose the redistricting plan Perry signed as Governor of Texas is raising questions over whether he and state Republicans tried to dilute the voter power of Latinos by gerrymandering them into particular districts.

DOJ's opening serve sets the scene for a major court battle over how the lines will be drawn in the Lone Star state. Federal attorneys are expected to offer more details of their objections in a filing Tuesday and in federal court in D.C. on Wednesday.

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Rick Perry

DOJ: Rick Perry's Texas Congressional Redistricting Map Violates Voting Rights Act

Ryan J. Reilly | September 19, 2011, 2:57PM

Texas Governor and Presidential Candidate Rick Perry (R)

Updated: September 19, 2011, 4:27PM

The Justice Department said Monday that Texas' state House and congressional redistricting plans didn't comply with Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), indicating they thought the maps approved by Gov. Rick Perry (R) gave too little voting power to the growing Latino population in the state.

Officials with DOJ's Civil Rights Division said the proposed redistricting plan for the State Board of Education (SBOE) and the state Senate complied with the Voting Rights Act, but indicated they had concerns with the state House plan and the plan for congressional redistricting.

The federal government "[denied] that the proposed Congressional plan, as compared with the benchmark, maintains or increases the ability of minority voters to elect their candidate of choice in each district protected by Section 5," DOJ lawyers write in a filing. "Defendants deny that the proposed Congressional plan complies with Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act."

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Rick Perry

Coalition: Perry's Voter ID Law Intentionally Discriminates Against Minorities

Ryan J. Reilly | September 13, 2011, 5:15PM

Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX)

A photo voter ID law signed by Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry is unnecessary, unfair, restrictive and intentionally discriminates against African-American and Latino voters, a coalition of civil rights groups will argue in a letter to the Justice Department on Wednesday.

Groups in the coalition want DOJ's Civil Rights Division to oppose preclearance of Texas's photo voter identification law under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. The Advancement Project, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Asian American Justice Center, Southwest Workers Union, a statewide Hispanic organization and Demos say the state failed to prove that the law was enacted for a nondiscriminatory purpose and that it will have no discriminatory effect on minorities.

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Lindsey Graham

Lindsey Graham Backs Federal Voter ID Law, Calls Restrictions 'The Future Of The Country'

Ryan J. Reilly | September 8, 2011, 2:47PM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)

Congress should follow in the footsteps of state legislatures and pass a federal voter ID law that requires voters to present photo identification at the polls, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said Thursday.

Graham defended South Carolina's recently passed voter ID law, which is under review by the Justice Department.

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voter intimidation

Justice Department Sends Poll Watchers Into County Where White Voters Were Intimidated

Ryan J. Reilly | August 22, 2011, 2:00PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

Attorney General Eric Holder is sending poll watchers into a Mississippi county where white voters were previously found to have been intimidated by a Democratic official who is African-American.

The Justice Department announced Monday they were sending poll watchers to monitor runoff elections in Mississippi's Noxubee County, as well as in Bolivar, Tunica and Wilkinson counties to ensure their compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. DOJ also monitored the first primary election in Noxubee County earlier this month.

The 2005 Noxubee case was the first ever so-called "reverse" discrimination voter intimidation case in the history of the Voting Rights Act. Ike Brown, the chairman of Noxubee County's Democratic Executive Committee in Mississippi, was found to have been trying to limit the participation of white voters in local elections.

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Voting Rights Act

In E-mails, Texas GOPers Worried Feds Would Say Redistricting Map Diluted Hispanic Voting Power

Ryan J. Reilly | August 16, 2011, 11:20AM

Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX)

Civil rights groups are worried that Republicans running redistricting in Texas are breaking the federal Voting Rights Act by diluting Hispanic voting strength. So too, apparently, were the Republicans themselves.

Emails recently released by a federal judge in the course of a lawsuit over the redistricting map drawn by Texas Republicans show those involved in the redistricting process were worried that DOJ or a federal court wouldn't approve their plan. As they worked on the plan in the spring and early summer, at least one GOPer expressed concerns that the feds would say they didn't do enough to strengthen the voting power of Hispanic residents of the state even though the population of Hispanic residents ballooned over 90 percent between the 2000 and 2010 censuses.

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voter fraud

Voting Groups To Feds: Don't Let Florida's Restrictive Voting Law Go Through

Ryan J. Reilly | July 15, 2011, 3:07PM

A woman voting

A group of voting rights organizations are asking the Justice Department not to clear a Florida law which places restrictions on third-party voter registration efforts and shortens the early voting period.

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Voter Identification

House Dems Slam 'Racist,' 'Rovian' Voter ID Laws; Says DOJ Isn't Doing Enough (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | July 14, 2011, 6:00AM

The Obama Justice Department needs to do more to stop states from implementing voter ID bills which disenfranchise minority voters, a coalition of House Democrats and civil rights leaders said Wednesday.

Gathered by the steps of the Capitol, the members of Congress and civil rights advocates slammed what they called a coordinated plan by Republicans to prevent students, minorities and the elderly from exercising their right to vote. They dismissed a frequent argument made by supporters of voter ID laws -- that since photo identification is required for plenty of everyday activities, it should be required at the polls as well.

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Joe Arpaio

DOJ Settles With Sheriff Joe Arpaio After He Gives Up Docs For Discrimination Probe

Ryan J. Reilly | June 2, 2011, 4:45PM

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the controversial anti-immigration official under federal investigation because his police practices and jail operations allegedly discriminate based on national origin, has reached a settlement with the Justice Department requiring him to turn over documents he's refused to give investigators.

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Jerrold Nadler

Nadler: Bush-Era DOJers Running 'Willie Horton Campaign' Against Civil Rights Division

Ryan J. Reilly | June 1, 2011, 2:15PM

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)

Former Bush-era Justice Department employees are making a career out of running a "Willie Horton campaign" against the Obama administration's Civil Rights Division, Rep. Jerrold Nadler said Wednesday. The New York Democrat claimed the ex-DOJ employees were scaring people into thinking the administration is favoring minorities over white people.

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New Black Panthers

DOJ Probe Finds Obama Appointee Wouldn't Allow Outright Dismissal Of New Black Panther Party Case

Ryan J. Reilly | April 7, 2011, 5:01PM

Members of the New Black Panthers Party outside a polling place in Philadelphia, PA during the 2008 elections.

An Obama administration official at the Justice Department told a subordinate that he wouldn't accept the outright dismissal of a high-profile civil voter intimidation case against members of the New Black Panther Party, according to a report by DOJ's internal ethics office.

The report from DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) found that Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perrelli told Loretta King (the then-acting Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division) that he "would accept any outcome in the case so long as the entire case was not dismissed outright (because a man with a nightstick at a polling place appeared to present a case of voter intimidation) and the proposed relief did not violate the Constitution." Adam Serwer first reported on the conclusions of the full OPR report, which was posted online by the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee this afternoon.

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New Black Panthers

DOJ Ethics Office: No Evidence That Politics, Race Influenced New Black Panther Party Case

Ryan J. Reilly | March 29, 2011, 6:05PM

Members of the New Black Panthers Party outside a polling place in Philadelphia, PA during the 2008 elections.

The Obama Justice Department did not improperly let politics or the race of the defendants affect the handling of a high-profile civil voter intimidation case against members of the New Black Panther Party, a probe by DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) concluded after an extensive investigation.

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J. Christian Adams

Ex-DOJer: Friends Reminded Me Of Mother Teresa's Advice When I Resigned Over Black Panthers

Ryan J. Reilly | March 29, 2011, 1:35PM

J. Christian Adams, former Department of Justice attorney

HOUSTON, TEXAS -- Despite his constant criticism of his ex-employer, former Justice Department lawyer J. Christian Adams said this weekend that he developed a "tight camaraderie" with employees in the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division who were "not insane."

It was when he spoke to those friends about his decision to resign from the Justice Department because of handling of an investigation into a voter intimidation case against members of the New Black Panther Party that Adams said he was "reminded by [sic] a story of Mother Teresa."

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Civil Rights

DOJ Investigating Mosque Controversy In Georgia

Ryan J. Reilly | March 7, 2011, 10:45AM

A Justice Department spokeswoman confirms to TPM that the Civil Rights Division has an ongoing investigation into whether a town council in Gwinnett County, Ga., denied a mosque a land use permit because of its religion.

As first reported by WSBTV, the Lilburn City Council has voted several times to deny the Dar-e Abbas Shia Islamic Center's rezoning and special use permit requests, which would allow the mosque to move to a larger property and build a cemetery.

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Eric Holder

GOPer Wolf Questions AG Holder On Allegations Of Politicized FOIA Process

Ryan J. Reilly | March 1, 2011, 11:20AM

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and DOJ Whistleblower J. Christian Adams

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) had his first shot at Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday, and he based his first question on a report on the handling of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests authored the ex-Justice Department "whistleblower" behind the controversial New Black Panther Party case. But Holder said he looked into the allegations made by former Justice Department lawyer J. Christian Adams and found there was "no ideological component to how we answer the requests."

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New Black Panthers

New Civil Rights Commission Suspends Printing Of New Black Panther Report

Ryan J. Reilly | February 14, 2011, 1:05PM

Members of the New Black Panthers Party outside a polling place in Philadelphia, PA during the 2008 elections.

Newly appointed members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights closed their investigation of the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case and suspended publication of hard copies of the report at a meeting last week.

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Bobby Franklin

Georgia Republican: Nobody Should Need A Driver's License

Ryan J. Reilly | February 2, 2011, 8:50AM

Bobby Franklin

Republican Georgia state legislator Bobby Franklin thinks that driver's licenses impose undue restrictions on the right of citizens to travel. So he's proposed legislation to stop the state from issuing them.

"Free people have a common law and constitutional right to travel on the roads and highways that are provided by their government for that purpose," Franklin's legislation states. "Licensing of drivers cannot be required of free people, because taking on the restrictions of a license requires the surrender of an inalienable right."

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Henry E. Bailey

Feds: Cincinnati Landlord Kicked Out Tenants Who Wouldn't Perform Sex Acts

Ryan J. Reilly | February 1, 2011, 8:30AM

Cincinnati landlord Henry E. Bailey currently owns 22 apartments in three separate buildings in Ohio. And since at least 2008, the federal government says he's been sneaking into the apartments of his female residents without their permission, groping them without their consent, offering reduced rent and maintenance repairs in exchange for sexual favors and refusing to make repairs for or offer rent discounts to those who refused.

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New Black Panthers

Poll Watcher To New Black Panther Party Videographer: 'Don't F**k Up The Story' (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | January 28, 2011, 11:10AM

Stephen Robert Morse was a freelance journalist and videographer working as a poll watcher for the local Republican Party in Philadelphia in 2008 when he got the call of his lifetime.

Members of the New Black Panther Party, he was told, were standing outside a polling place in an overwhelmingly African-American section of the city.

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New Black Panthers

DOJ Action In Philly Bullying Case At Odds With Right-Wing Meme

Ryan J. Reilly | December 16, 2010, 8:45AM

Fueling conservative outrage over the Justice Department's handling of the New Black Panther Party case is the suggestion that the Obama administration refuses to pursue civil rights charges if the defendants are African-American. DOJ officials have said their decision not to pursue charges against some of the defendants originally named in a voter intimidation case filed in the final days of the Bush administration was based on the merits of the case and not the skin color of the defendants.

Now here's the latest indication that no such policy exists: DOJ's Civil Rights Division announced Wednesday they'd reached a settlement agreement with Philadelphia's school district to protect Asian students at a South Philly high school from harassment by bullies who the students say are predominately African-American.

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New Black Panthers

Conservatives Approve Interim Report Slamming DOJ On New Black Panther Case

Ryan J. Reilly | November 19, 2010, 12:16PM

The conservative majority of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights today voted to approve what they are now calling an "interim" report on the Justice Department's handling of the voter intimidation case against members of the New Black Panther Party.

Commissioners voted 5-2 along ideological lines to approve the report on their investigation, which started back in the summer of 2009. The vote came after talks between DOJ and the Commission to allow officials to testify on the case broke down because, the Justice Department says, of the "unilateral" terms set up by the Commission.

Michael Yaki, a Democrat on the Commission, said his colleagues had lost focus and were engaged in a "Beltway game" over an isolated incident that took place at a polling place in Philadelphia on election day in 2008.

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New Black Panthers

DOJ Scraps Black Panther Depositions Over Commission's 'Unilateral' Terms

Ryan J. Reilly | November 16, 2010, 10:01AM

Members of the New Black Panther Party, with Todd Gaziano (top) of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and Justice Department lawyer Loretta King (bottom).

Justice Department lawyer Loretta King was supposed to be deposed at 10 a.m. today by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on the Department's handling of a voter intimidation case against members of the New Black Panther Party. But the Justice Department said late Monday that it "will not agree to the unilateral conditions" set forth by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights for depositions of three DOJ employees.

The conservatives who dominate the Civil Rights Commission had accused the Justice Department in a letter sent yesterday of "smothering" their report on the New Black Panther case by requiring the commission share information as a condition of the DOJ employees' testimony. That civil voter intimidation case was filed in the waning days of the Bush administration after an incident at a Philadelphia polling station in which a member of the New Black Panther Party held a nightstick.

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New Black Panthers

Civil Rights Commission: DOJ 'Smothering' Black Panthers Probe

Ryan J. Reilly | November 15, 2010, 4:07PM

Members of the New Black Panther Party, with Todd Gaziano (top) of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and Justice Department lawyer Loretta King (bottom).

The conservative-controlled U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on Monday accused the Justice Department of "delaying and smothering" the agency's investigation into the handling of a voter intimidation case against members of the New Black Panther Party.

Late last month, commissioners subpoenaed four Justice Department staff members as part of their probe into DOJ's handling of the voter intimidation case which stemmed from an incident in Philadelphia on Election Day in 2008. In a letter sent last week, the Justice Department agreed to allow the testimony of three Justice Department officials, so long as their testimony would be reflected in the Commission's report.

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New Black Panthers

Philly Officials: New Black Panther At Philly Polls 'Doing Nothing'

Ryan J. Reilly | November 2, 2010, 3:35PM

Members of the New Black Panthers Party outside a polling place in Philadelphia, PA during the 2008 elections.

A member of the New Black Panther Party was spotted by a local Fox station today at the same polling location at which he was videotaped two years ago. His presence at that facility in 2008, along with a nightstick-wielding colleague, led to a controversial voter intimidation case that has dogged the Obama administration for over a year and a half.

Fox provided a photo of the individual and reported that he was seen outside the polling place "wearing a pin that indicated his party affiliation, along with a black hat, sunglasses and leather coat." The polling location, Guild House West, is located in a majority African-American neighborhood in northern Philadelphia.

The individual appears to be Jerry Jackson, who had a poll-watching certificate back in 2008 and was originally named in the civil voter intimidation case bought in the waning days of the Bush administration. The Obama administration did not pursue the case against Jackson or the national party, but did obtain an injunction against fellow NBPP member King Samir Shabazz, who carried a nightstick.

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voter fraud

Justice Department To Monitor Polls In Harris County, Sheriff Joe's Turf

Ryan J. Reilly | October 29, 2010, 6:26PM

Catherine Engelbrecht and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio

Harris County, Texas and Maricopa County, Arizona are among the 30 jurisdictions in which federal observers will monitor polling place activities or Justice Department personnel will monitor the election, DOJ announced late Friday.

The Tea Party-backed group True the Vote, the Texas Democratic Party, Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee and even the New Black Panther Party have traded accusations of voter intimidation in Harris County and called for federal elections monitors to be deployed to the area.

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New Black Panthers

Dem Prevents Civil Rights Panel Vote On New Black Panther Report (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | October 29, 2010, 11:52AM

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights was unable to reach a quorum today to vote approve a report critical of the Justice Department's handling of the civil voter intimidation case once brought against members of the New Black Panther Party. Democratic Commissioner Michael Yaki, who would have allowed the panel to reached a quorum, walked out of the meeting.

"This process for this entire investigation has been a farce from the beginning and done in a way to diminish the opportunity of those who oppose this investigation to participate," Yaki told reporters.

What one conservative member of the commission did discuss, however, was how TPMMuckraker was able to obtain a draft copy of the report.

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New Black Panthers

Conservatives' Draft Report Slams DOJ Over Black Panther Case

Ryan J. Reilly | October 28, 2010, 12:28PM

Members of the New Black Panther Party, with Todd Gaziano (top) of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and Justice Department lawyer Christopher Coates (bottom).

The conservative-controlled U.S. Commission on Civil Rights will vote tomorrow on a report -- obtained by TPMMuckraker -- slamming the Justice Department's handling of the case against the New Black Panther Party for a 2008 incident in Philadelphia in which a member showed up at a Philadelphia polling place and brandished a nightstick.

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Thomas Perez

DOJ: We'll Fight Both Voter Fraud And Intimidation

Ryan J. Reilly | October 27, 2010, 12:37PM

Thomas Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division

The Justice Department will have "adequate and aggressive enforcement" of both voter fraud laws and of voter intimidation laws this year, said Thomas Perez, the head of the Civil Rights Division, today.

"We enforce both voter intimidation laws and voter fraud laws and we will continue to do so as we have done: carefully, aggressively, and evenhandedly," Perez said in response to a question from TPMMuckraker. "It is impossible to provide a road map for what constitutes such a case because they're very much fact-driven. We have criminal statutes related to intimidation, we have civil statutes pertaining to voter intimidation, we have criminal statutes related to fraud."

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U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

Conservative Civil Rights Commission Spent $173K Exclusively On Black Panther Query

Ryan J. Reilly | October 25, 2010, 11:25AM

Members of the New Black Panther Party and Todd Gaziano of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

The conservative-controlled U.S. Commission on Civil Rights says it has spent $173,653 investigating an incident involving voter intimidation by members of the New Black Panther Party -- a case in which no voters have alleged they were intimidated.

That's according to data provided by the Commission on Civil Rights in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by TPMMuckraker. As of Sept. 30, the obligations for the project stood at $173,653, up from $141,357 as of Aug. 2.

But given that entire 2010 Statutory Enforcement Report -- the biggest project of the year for the Commission -- centers on the incident in Philadelphia on Election Day 2008, the actual dollar amount spent is likely higher. Several meetings of the Commission have centered exclusively on the New Black Panther Party case -- and the commission's budget for 2010 totals in at $9.4 million.

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DOJ Civil Rights Division

Obama DOJ Keeps Bush-Era Name On Voting Integrity Effort

Ryan J. Reilly | October 25, 2010, 9:45AM

John Ashcroft and Attorney General Eric Holder

It's no surprise that the Justice Department is preparing for the midterm election next week. What is a surprise is that Attorney General Eric Holder's DOJ is continuing a Bush-era program -- in name at least -- that came under fire due to the Republican administration's push for voter fraud prosecutions.

The Ballot Access and Voting Integrity Initiative began eight years ago under then-Attorney General John Ashcroft. This year, under a Democratic administration, the initiative is "ongoing" and is part of the Justice Department's 2010 Election Day Program, according to a joint press release from two Obama-nominated U.S. Attorneys in Wisconsin.

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U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

Former DOJ Lawyer Objects To Bush-Era Voting Section Chief's Testimony

Ryan J. Reilly | October 19, 2010, 12:22PM

Christopher Coates

A former Justice Department lawyer, Robert Kengle, has written the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to object to the testimony of the former head of the Voting Section, Christopher Coates. Coates accused Kengle of being leery of the Bush-era Noxubee, Miss. voter intimidation case, which was the first time that the federal government used the 1965 Voting Rights Act to allege racial discrimination against whites.

As Adam Serwer reports, Kengle wrote the conservative-controlled U.S. Commission on Civil Rights with his complaint. The Commission is examining the enforcement of the Voting Rights Act as part of their inquiry into DOJ's handling of the voter intimidation case against members of the New Black Panther Party.

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Civil Rights Commission

Dem: Civil Rights Commission Went 'Completely Overboard' With Holder Letter

Ryan J. Reilly | October 8, 2010, 12:17PM

Todd Gaziano (far right) is pressing forth on the New Black Panther Party issue.

The conservative majority of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights today approved two letters addressed the Attorney General Eric Holder, alleging that the Justice Department is not enforcing civil rights laws in a race-neutral manner.

Expected to hit the press just weeks ahead of the midterm elections, a draft version of the commission's 2010 enforcement report -- focusing on DOJ's handling of the New Black Panther Party case and the alleged culture of hostility to pursuing cases against African-American defendants -- is circulating amongst the commissioners. They were asked at Friday's meeting to have their comments in by Oct. 11 to allow a revised report to be sent out Oct. 15. The commission will vote to approve the report on Oct. 22.

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U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

Conservatives' Draft Letter: DOJ Hostile To 'Race-Neutral' Civil Rights Enforcement (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | October 7, 2010, 4:48PM

Todd Gaziano

The conservative block of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has prepared two letters to Attorney General Eric Holder, one of which charges that the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division is hostile to the "race-neutral enforcement of the civil rights laws."

While the conservative-dominated Commission's original goal for their 2010 Enforcement Report was to only focus on the Justice Department's handling of the civil voter intimidation case against members of the New Black Panther Party, they have now expanded the report they are preparing to focus on the "culture" within the Civil Rights Division.

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