PBS NewsHour reports on the potential impact moving forward:
Hans von Spakovsky has the story.
“On Kane’s allegations of racism, Williams, a black Democrat, wrote: “I am offended. I have seen racism. I know what it looks like. This isn’t it.” Williams, a highly accomplished and respected attorney, served as the President of the Black Caucus while at Penn State University and has been devoted his entire life to serving his Philadelphia community. The investigation’s lead agent, Claude Thomas, who is also African American, criticized Kane as well: “The assertion that I/we targeted African Americans is unequivocally and blatantly false. I did not target any persons by race, ethnicity or political affiliation.”
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Another disturbing development in this spectacle is that Attorney General Kane hired an attorney [4] last week to pursue defamation charges against The Philadelphia Inquirer. Her attorney, Dick Sprague, said that Kane plans on “suing whoever was responsible for the malicious words.” As Pennsylvania’s Attorney General, Kane should understand the protections afforded to the media under the First Amendment and the scrutiny to which any public official is—and ought to be—subjected. Kane’s attempt to squelch any criticism of her performance in office with litigation threats raises serious doubts about whether she has the proper disposition to hold any public position of trust.
Members of both political parties in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives have expressed support [5] for a bipartisan ethics investigation into the actions of the Democratic legislators accused of taking bribes. Such an investigation, however, should not serve as a substitute for criminal prosecution by the Attorney General. She has an absolute duty to enforce the law. If she can’t uphold that obligation, she should not be the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Gallup has the data to back it up.
I’ll be nationwide at 1:30 with John Gibson on Fox News Radio to talk about Eric Holder’s failure to charge Melowese Richarson with 6 counts of double voting in the 2012 election (Breitbart story here). (@Gibsonradio )
The People for the American Way vows an appeal of a ruling that allows Kansas to ensure that only citizens are registering to vote. The promise illustrates how some groups are dedicated to litigating vulnerabilities to criminal conduct into American elections. But state officials in Kansas and Arizona said they are confident the latest decision will stand – and that they do not intend to wait for appeals.
“We will appeal it,” said Sam Wercinski, executive director of the Arizona Advocacy Network. He said no official decision has been made, but he expects voting-rights advocates will file an appeal “within 30 to 60 days.”
At NRO, Roger Clegg and Hans von Spakovsky summarize their Heritage Foundation report “Disparate Impact” and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act: From the report: In its voter ID lawsuits, the DOJ emphasizes its claims that the changes made by these states will make it more difficult for minorities to vote, but a claim that a challenged practice has a statistical impact greater than the status quo ante does not mean that there has been a violation of Section 2, since Section 2, unlike Section 5, is not a “retrogression” statute. It seems that the DOJ is refusing to accept the Shelby County decision and is trying to convert Section 2 into an “anti-retrogression” statute to replace the fallen Section 5. The important factor to consider under Section 2 is whether the challenged practice, such as a voter ID requirement, imposes a burden greater than the usual sort associated with voting… In this regard, Justice John Paul Stevens’s majority opinion in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board found that the burden of getting a voter ID does not rise above the “usual burdens of voting,” calling into question the validity of the Justice Department’s claims under Section 2 against Texas and North Carolina.
As Eric Holder’s Justice Department attacks voter-ID laws in Texas and North Carolina, the Heritage Foundation has warned courts that they should be wary of construing Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act to find liability when only a “disparate impact” on the basis of race has been shown.
Breitbart has the story.
“Last week Al Sharpton embraced convicted vote fraudster Melowese Richardson at a “voting rights” rally in Cincinnati. The United States Department of Justice under Eric Holder has done nothing to Melowese Richardson 410 days after she admitted on camera that she committed multiple federal felonies by voting six times for President Obama’s reelection.
The lack of DOJ action against an unrepentant federal vote fraudster combined with Richardson’s lionization by Sharpton and the organization that sponsored the rally demonstrates how the Justice Department is facilitating a culture of brazen criminality on the eve of the 2014 midterm elections. The failure to indict Richardson is the latest example of Holder’s department excusing lawlessness in federal elections and abandoning law abiding Americans. . . .
Federal charges against Richardson easily satisfy DOJ guidelines. There is a unique federal interest in ensuring voter fraud does not taint the election of the President and Congress. Second, the federal interest in having valid elections for President and Congress remains unvindicated; Richardson walks free and is now being cheered at rallies. Last, Richardson admitted on camera that she committed multiple federal felonies and her handwriting matched the ballot applications that were sent to her house. Game, set, match. . . .
Federal charges against Richardson for voting for Obama six times can be initiated by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Springer, who serves as the District Election Officer (DEO) in Cincinnati. U.S. Attorney Carter Stewart could also initiate charges, as could the Public Integrity Section in Washington D.C., or even Eric Holder himself. “
How can you conduct a voting rights rally when you celebrate a person convicted of a voting felony? Former Hamilton County poll worker Melowese Richardson gets a big hug from Al Sharpton as Ohio Democrats including Rep. Alicia Reece and Cincinnati National Action Network President Bobby Hilton “welcome home” the convicted multiple vote fraudster. Via The Enquirer: The Rev. Al Sharpton, keynote speaker at Thursday’s rally to kick-off the campaign for an Ohio Voters’ Bill of Rights Ohio Constitutional amendment, even hugged Melowese Richardson. The unseemly attention drew bipartisan criticism as even some Democrats “questioned the idea of applauding Richardson.” Of course, National Action Network founder Sharpton has his own past ties to voter fraud. Richardson was previously convicted of threatening to kill a witness in a criminal case against her brother; of stealing; of drunken driving; and of beating someone in a bar fight, according to past Enquirer stories.
Richardson, a Democrat, was convicted of voter fraud after using her position as poll worker to vote more than once in the 2012 presidential election. [Richardson was convicted on four counts of illegal voting; four other counts were dropped as part of her plea bargain.] She got a five year prison term, but was released earlier this month after local Democratic activists pressed for a fairer term.
But Richardson isn’t just a convicted fraudster. Apparently the job of Hamilton County Democrat poll worker has minimal standards:
The wheels of justice turn slowly in these “non-existent” voter fraud cases: A former campaign worker for state Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex) was sentenced to three years in prison today for submitting fraudulent ballots in her 2007 election, state authorities said. Angel Colon, 51, of Newark, pleaded guilty to election fraud in 2011 after submitting absentee ballots for some voters without their knowledge… The standard is five to 10 years in prison… “To safeguard fair and honest elections, we need to deliver a clear deterrent message that election tampering is a serious crime. This sentence accomplishes that.”
The state Attorney General pressed for prison time over probation: