Author Archives: J Christian Adams

Texas AG tells Justice Department to stop stalling on redistricting trial

at the link.  Abbott said he and Perez agreed to handle the litigation as quickly as possible, but says the DOJ is now delaying the process in an attempt to impose upon Texas the interim maps drawn by a panel of federal judges.

“For example,” Abbott’s letter reads, ”shortly after Texas filed its petition for declaratory judgment, we filed a motion asking the district court to review this matter on an expedited basis.  Your office opposed that motion. Further, despite the fact that we promptly responded to the Civil Rights Division’s repeated requests for additional information about the State’s redistricting plans, your office nonetheless demanded extensive discovery that further delayed the process.”

Texas requests Supreme Court stay court-drawn congressional redistricting plan

The stay application is at the link. 

In summary, Texas argues that the federal panel failed to provide the required deference to the legal redistricting plan enacted by the state legislature despite the fact that the state plan maintains the same number of minority opportunity districts and has not been found to violate Section 5 in the preclearance proceedings ongoing in the District Court of the District Court of Columbia. 

Texas accuses the federal panel of making unwarranted wholesale changes to the current map that included the unilateral and illegal drawing of constitutionally suspect coalition districts.  Texas asserts that the federal panel essentially ignored the Supreme Court mandate under Bartlett; a case not requiring the drawing of coalition districts or cross-over districts under the Section 2 analysis.

Texas asserts that the proposed interim plan drawn by the court so dramatically reconstructed the original plan that only 9 of the 36 congressional districts drawn by the legislature remain intact and the court has no legal justification to take such an activist role.

After reading the briefs, the interpretation of Upham v. Seamon may well determine how the Court rules.

DOJ to Monitor Elections in Jasper TX Under Freakish Circumstances

This one is too much.  From Texas GOP Vote.com.

“The Justice Department announced that they would be sending agents to Jasper to monitor the election.


One man who showed up during the election week was a man named L.J. Guillory “Bishop Guillory.”


Guillory was wearing a badge around his neck with the United States Seal. His business card had the United Stated Seal. His military style shirt had 4 Military stars on it. He claimed to be the General Ombudsman for Ombudsman International, a Government Oversight Agency.”


A simple internet search revealed that Guillory has been to different parts of the nation advocating for issues and making people believe that he is part of the DOJ. In Tyler, TX Guillory was the advocate for a black student who stabbed his white teacher to death. The Judge threw him out of the Courtroom and banned him from the property. The Tyler Paper wrote an article about the situation. Even the local media believed Guillory was a DOJ agent because the first sentence of this article starts with “An ombudsman for the U.S. Department of Justice heard testimony Tuesday…”


Something just did not add up with this guy though. Guillory’s business card had the US Seal on it but it also had a masionic symbol on it. This caused suspicion, and I was contacted.”

Bishop Guillory is an ordained minister in the Unitarian Church.  Here he is in his uniform (middle):






And more:





He purportedly told one person this:

“One local businesswoman that I talked to during the election believed that Guillory was an actual DOJ official. She stated that Guillory claimed to be monitoring the election on behalf of the taxpayer, and that after his investigation, he would report to the Department of Justice any negative findings. He even told her that it would be illegal for a new city council to fire the Police Chief.”

Either this speaks volumes about his calm and measured demeanor,  as so many people would believe he was from the DOJ despite his admonition as a “federal official” that it is illegal for a city to fire a police chief, or, it speaks volumes about what people think is possible from the DOJ. Either way file this episode in the strange file.









North Carolina Lawmakers: Veto Override of Photo ID on agenda

Here is reporting from North Carolina on a short legislative session where there may be an override attempt of the photo identification veto issued by Governor Perdue.  Apparently, the Republicans need only a few Democrats to override the veto.  One wonders if Democrats will continue to vote on a strict party-line basis to uphold the veto despite deep bipartisan support found with the public.

Democrats would be smart to negotiate on the language of the legislation and propose a later date to not interfere with the 2012 election.  To do otherwise risks a more strict voter ID bill down the road.  Perhaps, though, both parties are satisfied with this being a political issue and gridlock will remain par for the course.  
   
Veto overrides are always on the agenda in the House, and two high-profile vetoes are considered likely to come up for a vote this week.

Voter ID: House Bill 351 would require voters to show photo ID. Perdue vetoed the bill this summer, echoing the concerns of critics who say the requirement would disproportionately disenfranchise elderly, poor and women voters.

Earlier this year, House leaders failed to get the handful of Democratic votes needed to override the veto. They’re expected to try again during the upcoming session

Voting Section will not object to Alabama’s new congressional lines

links @ CNN and Roll Call with the full story on DOJ preclearing the Alabama congressional lines.  Alabama held the Department of Justice’s feet to the fire by simultaneously suing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. 

CNN:  Alabama has six white Republican members and one black Democratic member. The African-American lawmaker, Terri Sewell ,represents a district in which 63% of voters are black, a slight increase in the number of minority voters from the makeup of the old district.

DOD grant to aid military voters in participating Florida counties

Full story here:


The Escambia County Supervisor of Elections office announced Tuesday it is among 13 Florida counties receiving part of a $1.6 million federal grant to ensure military and overseas citizens can more easily vote in 2012 elections.


The Federal Voting Assistance Program grant will provide Escambia County with $178,500 over the next five years.



Escambia County Supervisor of Elections David Stafford said two years ago, Florida declined to apply for state grants that were offered for the same purpose before the 2010 elections.



Stafford testified before Congress earlier this year to advocate that local election officials should be able to apply for the grant even if their state was unwilling to participate. The request was granted and the Okaloosa County Supervisor of Elections, Paul Lux, volunteered to be the lead county to apply for a collective grant.

The participating counties all have large populations of military personnel and serve major military installations across the state, Stafford said