LA Times: Bush's long history of tilting Justice

[kiteinthewind]

Bush's long history of tilting Justice
The administration began skewing federal law enforcement before the current U.S. attorney scandal, says a former Department of Justice lawyer.
By Joseph D. Rich
JOSEPH D. RICH was chief of the voting section in the Justice Department's civil right division from 1999 to 2005. He now works for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

March 29, 2007

THE SCANDAL unfolding around the firing of eight U.S. attorneys compels the conclusion that the Bush administration has rewarded loyalty over all else. A destructive pattern of partisan political actions at the Justice Department started long before this incident, however, as those of us who worked in its civil rights division can attest.

I spent more than 35 years in the department enforcing federal civil rights laws — particularly voting rights. Before leaving in 2005, I worked for attorneys general with dramatically different political philosophies — from John Mitchell to Ed Meese to Janet Reno. Regardless of the administration, the political appointees had respect for the experience and judgment of longtime civil servants.

Under the Bush administration, however, all that changed. Over the last six years, this Justice Department has ignored the advice of its staff and skewed aspects of law enforcement in ways that clearly were intended to influence the outcome of elections.

It has notably shirked its legal responsibility to protect voting rights. From 2001 to 2006, no voting discrimination cases were brought on behalf of African American or Native American voters. U.S. attorneys were told instead to give priority to voter fraud cases, which, when coupled with the strong support for voter ID laws, indicated an intent to depress voter turnout in minority and poor communities.

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http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-rich29mar29,0,1507657.story?track=mostemailedlink

[galloglas]

1. K and R !!

And, in Missouri, our Western District US Attorney resigned just in time for the "New boy on the Block", US Attorney Bradley Schlozman, to files four charges of "voter fraud".

Most complaints have been against ACORN, in St. Louis, for failing to get a voter registration correctly done.

Seems kind of inconsequential when the same attorney fails to look into the matter of Ameren Energy building a brand new power plant, next to a Civil War battlefield, without bothering to file for permission to build it!