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The Philadelphia Black Panther Case
The refusal of the U.S. Justice Department to prosecute the New Black Panther Party in Philadelphia for its blatant acts of voter intimidation at the polls in 2008 is finally getting some of the attention it deserves.
Yesterday, J. Christian Adams, who resigned from the department over the matter, testified before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
Adams has said this is "the clearest case of voter intimidation that I've seen since I've been practicing law." And yet, it was ordered dropped by his bosses. Why?
Prior to his testimony Adams wrote that there is an "open and pervasive hostility within the Justice Department to bringing civil rights cases against nonwhite defendants on behalf of white victims. Equal enforcement of justice is not a priority of this administration. Open contempt is voiced for these types of cases. Some of my coworkers argued that the law should not be used against black wrongdoers because of the long history of slavery and segregation. ... Incredibly, after the case was dismissed, instructions were given that no more cases against racial minorities like the Black Panther case would be brought by the [Justice Department's] Voting Section."
That is a pretty serious charge and Justice Department officials have denied it.
What is undeniable is that the case against the two thugs who stood outside the polling place back in November 2008 was dropped, raising suspicions that there is a double standard when it comes to prosecuting these sorts of cases. Here's the video taken by a Penn student that day.
If two white Klansmen had behaved similarly in say, Alabama, it is hard to believe they wouldn't be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
UPDATE: Here's more video of the angry young man the Obama Justice Department decided to treat with kid gloves. Warning: He uses some bad words.
UPDATE: To be clear, this idiot has every right to his views and the right to spew them in a public place. The New Black Panther Party is identified as a "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is known for being a lot more concerned about the racism of white hate groups. The good news is that all these groups exist on the far fringes of American society. The people who gravitate towards them are losers, race hustlers, and nut jobs.
Abigail Thernstrom, a strong critic of affirmative action and racial double standards, considers this case a sideshow to more important voting rights issues.
Yesterday, J. Christian Adams, who resigned from the department over the matter, testified before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
Adams has said this is "the clearest case of voter intimidation that I've seen since I've been practicing law." And yet, it was ordered dropped by his bosses. Why?
Prior to his testimony Adams wrote that there is an "open and pervasive hostility within the Justice Department to bringing civil rights cases against nonwhite defendants on behalf of white victims. Equal enforcement of justice is not a priority of this administration. Open contempt is voiced for these types of cases. Some of my coworkers argued that the law should not be used against black wrongdoers because of the long history of slavery and segregation. ... Incredibly, after the case was dismissed, instructions were given that no more cases against racial minorities like the Black Panther case would be brought by the [Justice Department's] Voting Section."
That is a pretty serious charge and Justice Department officials have denied it.
What is undeniable is that the case against the two thugs who stood outside the polling place back in November 2008 was dropped, raising suspicions that there is a double standard when it comes to prosecuting these sorts of cases. Here's the video taken by a Penn student that day.
If two white Klansmen had behaved similarly in say, Alabama, it is hard to believe they wouldn't be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
UPDATE: Here's more video of the angry young man the Obama Justice Department decided to treat with kid gloves. Warning: He uses some bad words.
UPDATE: To be clear, this idiot has every right to his views and the right to spew them in a public place. The New Black Panther Party is identified as a "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is known for being a lot more concerned about the racism of white hate groups. The good news is that all these groups exist on the far fringes of American society. The people who gravitate towards them are losers, race hustlers, and nut jobs.
Abigail Thernstrom, a strong critic of affirmative action and racial double standards, considers this case a sideshow to more important voting rights issues.
posted by Spencerblog at
7:41 AM
10 Comments:
Christian Adams is a longtime GOP hack hired by a Bush appointee who was found by an IG committee to have used political litmus tests in DOJ hirings. His credibility has been shattered, as it is clear that he had no firsthand knowledge of the case and has peddled hearsay to Fox News. Abagail Thernstrom, GOP Vice Chair of the US Commission on Civil Rights has already thrown Adams under the bus and declared the entire episode a completely manufactured controversy. Get back to interviewing volunteers at Aronomink and leave the politics to those that are willing to read past Glen Beck's headlines.
Hah!
Barack Obama appointed Eric Holder to be his AG. No political litmus test there. How's his credibility with you these days?
Adams has enough credibility to be invited on to CNN today.
And Thernstrom, with whom I've personally and professionally communicated, thinks there are bigger fish to fry than kooks like Shabazz, Holder for one.
BTW - It's Abigail, not Abagail. And Aronimink, not Aronomink.
I'm paging back in your blog, looking for the outrage that you stirred up when the Bush DOJ dismissed charges against the Arizona Minutemen for carrying Glocks and intimidated Latino voters in 2006.....I'll have it here in a minute.
There were carrying intimated Latinos? In what? Suitcases? Shame on them.
hey /mr, did you not see the bat in the guy's hand? Did you fail to see it while you were busy playing anon-iano's version of political battleship? Whats your opinion of two guys dressed up in fatigues in front of a polling place wielding bats? I thought the Local 98 electricians in 2004 were bad but this is ridiculous. Would love to hear your comments on this issue.
my opinion is that we live in a country governed by laws and not dictated by the faux outrage of a bunch of whiny babies at Fox News who manufacture outrage and scandal to protect their privilege and millions of low brow humunculi tune them in every day, listen to their nonsense and write about it in the fishwrap.
And lets not forget that the nut who is on South Street screaming about killing crackers and their babies does so without any action taken by the police, yet Michael Marcavage is arrested every time he preaches the gospel in public. WE are in real trouble if people allow this to continue to happen.
C. Scott Shields, Esquire
Low-brow humunculi?
Matt, where do your fellow high-brow He-men go for news and commentary? MSNBC and its high brow tag-team of Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow?
Yikes.
Marcavage? Your true colors are shining through. Marcavage was arrested for breaking the law, not for spouting off hateful rhetoric. That's how your friends at Westboro Baptist keep popping up. Not sure what gospel your reading, but maybe I missed the passage explaining why a deeply closeted lunatic like Marcavage gets to decide who deserves to live or die.
Spence, I don't need a talking head to tell me what to think, I handle that all by myself.
so you'll play left-right ping pong rather than to look at the issue of guys in fatigues and bats/police batons intimidating people walking in to vote. Figured, seems to be your style. If you saw this in your own polling place would you blame all the right-wing talk shows or would you rather s**t yourself at the sight?
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