Return Of The Black Panthers

by Gary Bauer: As President Obama was hosting the Beer Summit at the White House, attempting to diffuse a racial controversy sparked by his own comments, another controversy was returning to the front pages. Two months ago, the Washington Times broke the story that political appointees in the Obama Justice Department had overruled career lawyers and stopped the prosecution of members of the New Black Panther Party charged with voter intimidation during the 2008 election.

The Times has stayed on this story, and yesterday reported the name of the official who ordered the case dismissed, “Associate Attorney General Thomas J. Perrelli, the department’s No. 3 political appointee.” Today, the Times reports that one of the Black Panthers named in the voter intimidation complaint “obtained new credentials as a poll watcher ‘at any ward/division in Philadelphia’ just days after the charges against him were dismissed.”

Congressional Republicans have been demanding answers from Attorney General Eric Holder, and they are now demanding that he refile the case. Virginia Representative Frank Wolf said, “In all fairness, he [Holder] has a duty to protect those seeking to vote and I remain deeply troubled by this questionable dismissal of an important voter-intimidation case in Philadelphia.” In addition, Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, has asked repeatedly that the career Justice prosecutors be allowed to tell their side of the story. A meeting among top Justice officials involved in the case, Rep. Smith and John Conyers, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, was canceled yesterday and has been rescheduled for next month.

I’m glad to see congressional conservatives fighting hard to defend our cherished freedoms like the right to vote and holding government officials accountable in the administration of justice. But the handling of this case is just another reminder of the myriad ways in which elections have consequences.

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Tags: Black Panthers, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, US Justice Dept, voter intimidation, voting To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!