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

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

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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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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New Black Panthers

Former Voting Chief Set To Testify As Conservatives Wrap Up New Black Panthers Report

Ryan J. Reilly | September 24, 2010, 9:55AM

Tom Perez, J. Christian Adams, and Christopher Coates

It's been 689 days since two men affiliated with a fringe group called the New Black Panther Party, one of them carrying a nightstick, stood outside of the a polling place dressed in military garb in an overwhelmingly African-American community in Philadelphia.

The conservative majority of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights had been prepared today to approve a report that observers expected would blast the Obama administration for the decision to drop the civil case against all but one of defendants, which was brought in the waning days of the Bush administration.

But mid-afternoon Wednesday, the former chief of the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division who signed off on the case, Chris Coates, sent this letter to the commission chairman stating that -- in defiance of the Justice Department's order -- he would like to appear before the panel.

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Voting

DOJ Vet: Plan For Panther Hearings Shows Key Voting-Rights Panel Is "Kind Of A Joke"

Zachary Roth | October 22, 2009, 3:24PM

USCCR Commissioner Todd Gaziano

Democrats and civil-rights advocates are slamming conservative members of a key federal voting-rights panel for a plan to hold hearings on the controversial "New Black Panthers" voter intimidation case, and are expressing intense concern that the commission is being shifted away from its traditional role as a protector of the rights of minority voters.

Yesterday, Main Justice reported that the commission, dominated by Bush appointees, planned to hold hearings on the New Black Panther case, which the Justice Department dismissed earlier this year. In a now-famous incident from Election Day 2008, a member of a group called the New Black Panther Party was caught on camera clad in combat boots and brandishing a night stick at a Philadelphia polling station.

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