Thursday, November 03, 2011

DOJ Max Black Plan

The Voting Rights Act of 1965

Everyone has heard about it. Republicans wrote it and forced President Johnson to sign it.

During the debate over the 2006 extension, some Republican members of Congress objected to renewing the preclearance requirement (the Act's primary enforcement provision), arguing that it represents an overreach of federal power and places unwarranted bureaucratic demands on Southern states that have long since abandoned the discriminatory practices the Act was meant to eradicate.

It was renewed for 25 years.

Section Five requires that the Commonwealth of Virginia get permission from the federal government to change district boundaries. The Dept. of Justice has to approve those changes. At one time, racial gerrymandering was used extensively as to "protect the rights of minorities" because only those of that race could be a viable candidate. That process was declared unconstitutional. From Wikipedia:
Some judges and proponents of racially drawn congressional districts have interpreted Section 5 of the Act as requiring racial gerrymandering in order to ensure minority representation.[32][33] The United States Supreme Court in Miller v. Johnson, 515 U.S. 900 (1995), overturned a 1992 Congressional redistricting plan which had created minority majority districts in Georgia as unconstitutional gerrymander. In Bush v. Vera, the Supreme Court, in a plurality opinion, rejected Texas's contention that Section 5 required racially-gerrymandered districts.
Of course, Obama's Department of Justice, as we have seen in the dropping of charges against the New Black Panthers, moratoriums on drilling, and the Fast and Furious operation, doesn't feel constrained by court rulings or legalities. As long as it meets their agenda, all is kosher.

DOJ's Secret Internal Redistricting Plan
The Holder Justice Department has been using secret internal redistricting plans to try to force states, counties and cities to maximize the number of black elected officials resulting from redistricting. In the 1990′s the Department of Justice Voting Section engaged in illegal activity that was commonly referred to as “Max-Black” when reviewing redistricting plans in 16 states covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
Any submitting authority will recognize the signs of the secret plans. DOJ staff have been instructed that they cannot ever give the illustrative plans to the submitting authority. They, instead, are to suggest moving a district line in a certain direction, or to grab new territory. The instructions to DOJ staff to create, but not disclose the secret plans, are explicit. These instructions are yet another reason why jurisdictions should go straight to federal court for approval of redistricting plans instead of dealing with the illegal imposition of Max-Black solutions by Eric Holder’s DOJ.


So, the question is, ...... is this happening in Virginia and should AG Cuccinelli look into it?


h/t PJ Tatler
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