Reply #18: Evidence of Political Manipulation at the Justice Department

[Wilms]

Evidence of Political Manipulation at the Justice Department: How Tom DeLay's Redistricting Plan Avoided Voting Rights Act Disapproval

By MARK POSNER

Tuesday, Dec. 06, 2005

A few days ago, a confidential Justice Department memorandum was leaked to the press. The memorandum, prepared by career staff in the Department's Civil Rights Division in December 2003, dealt with the Texas congressional redistricting plan engineered by Tom DeLay earlier that year. It concluded that the plan discriminated against minority voters, in violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Under the Voting Rights Act, DOJ was required to approve or disapprove the redistricting plan. A Republican appointee overrode the staff recommendation and granted approval, allowing the plan to go into effect for the 2004 congressional elections. In so doing, the official sided with his political party and with one of the most powerful Republicans in Washington.
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Was this political manipulation or, as the Bush Administration has claimed, simply an honest disagreement between the career and political staff about how to apply the law to a complex set of facts?

According to the Attorney General, who spoke out in DOJ's defense, all Department decisions are "based on what the law requires" and "disagreement within the ranks does not necessarily make a wrong decision."

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http://writ.news.findlaw.com/commentary/20051206_posner.html