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US House hears testimony on voter discrimination

LOUISIANA WEEKLY — Since the Democrats took control of the U.S. House last November, their efforts to restore the Voting Rights Act (VRA) — gutted by the U.S. Supreme Court in its 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision — have continued despite entrenched Republican opposition. On Sept. 10, the House Judiciary’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties once again focused the nation’s attention on the VRA with a hearing titled “Evidence of Current and Ongoing Voting Discrimination.”

Published

7 years ago

September 20, 2019

Oakland Post

United Staes Capitol (Photo by: Wiki Commons)

By Benjamin Barber

(Special from Facing South) — Since the Democrats took control of the U.S. House last November, their efforts to restore the Voting Rights Act (VRA) — gutted by the U.S. Supreme Court in its 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision — have continued despite entrenched Republican opposition.

On Sept. 10, the House Judiciary’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties once again focused the nation’s attention on the VRA with a hearing titled “Evidence of Current and Ongoing Voting Discrimination.”

Witnesses included several prominent civil rights leaders: Derrick Johnson, NAACP president; Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; Dale Ho, director of the American Civil Liberties’ Voting Rights Project; Myrna Perez, director of the Brennan Center for Justice’s Voting Rights and Elections Program, and Natalie A. Landreth, senior staff attorney at the Native American Rights Fund.

Also on the panel was J. Christian Adams, president and general counsel of the conservative Public Interest Legal Foundation and a former member of the Justice Department under the Bush administration. Adams has been known to spread false and exaggerated claims about voter fraud.

The witnesses began by reporting their findings of ongoing voter discrimination at the state and local level.

After the Supreme Court effectively struck down the Section 5 of the VRA that required states and counties with a history of voting discrimination — most of them in the South — to get federal preclearance for election law changes, Republican state lawmakers began promoting restrictive voting laws that explicitly targeted voters of color. Of the 13 Southern states, 11 adopted such laws in Shelby’s wake. Among them are states that were covered in whole by the preclearance requirement, including Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia, as well as those covered in part, such as North Carolina.

“Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg famously warned about the Supreme Court’s decision striking down a part of the voting rights act was like, quote, throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm, and sure enough, after the decision a downpour came with a wave of discriminatory voting laws,” said the ACLU’s Ho. Among them were measures that required voter ID, scaled back early voting periods, cut polling locations, restricted absentee ballots, and limited voter registration.

Gupta, who previously led the Obama Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, emphasized the impact of polling place closures on voter turnout. She referenced a report recently released by The Leadership Conference that examined polling places in 750 counties once covered by Section 5. It found that 1,688 polling places were closed between 2012 and 2018, largely in Black communities. Polling place closures often lead to long lines, voter confusion, and transportation challenges.

“Without preclearance, states are under no obligation to evaluate the discriminatory impacts and potential harms of polling place closures,” said Gupta.

The NAACP’s Johnson pointed out that without preclearance and a responsive Justice Department the burden of combating voting discrimination has fallen on legal organizations and voting rights activists. “Our branches and members are asked to do what used to be the job of the federal government — protect the right to vote,” he said. “To be clear, we’re fighting back wherever and whenever we can. This is not sustainable. Congress must step up to combat this nation’s epidemic.”

Noting that prior to Shelby jurisdictions had to clear changes to their purge practices with the Justice Department, the Brennan Center’s Perez reported that almost 16 million people were removed from the voting rolls between 2014 and 2016. “It’s difficult to address the effects of bad purges until it is too late,” she said. “That’s why Section 5’s preclearance process is well tailored to address not only voter discrimination and other forms but the purge problem specifically”

Landreth focused on how losing preclearance protections has affected Native American voters. In the first election after Shelby in formerly preclearance-covered Arizona, for example, Maricopa County reduced the number of polling places from hundreds down to about 60 in 2016, resulting in voters standing in line for as long as six hours to cast a ballot. The voters were forced to sue to get polling places reopened.

“Why do these voters have to sue to not wait in a four- to six-hour line?” asked Landreth. “Because preclearance is gone.”

Besides detailing problems, the hearing also considered solutions — and all of the witnesses agreed that restoring Section 5 of the VRA was critical. There are currently several bills in Congress that would restore the VRA, all of them stalled in the legislative process because of inaction by Republican leaders.

“Make no mistake — Congress has ample evidence [of the need] to restore the Voting Rights Act to its full strength,” said Johnson. “No one can deny the strong record that supports immediate passage.”

This article originally appeared in the online magazine of the Institute for Southern Studies, www.southernstudies.org. The Institute for Southern Studies is a nonprofit research and media center that exposes injustice, strengthens democracy and builds a community for change in the South.

This article originally published in the September 16, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.

This article originally appeared in The Louisiana Weekly.

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NFL: Week Two Recap | Jalen Hurts did not fold; Caleb Williams exits game with injury

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts found Darius Cooper with nine seconds left for the game winning touchdown as his team beat the Tennessee Titans 24-20 in Nashville. Hurts finished the day 26/37 for 264 yards. He threw for two touchdowns and two interceptions. Prior to the final drive, the Eagles ran 25 plays for 45 […]
The post NFL: Week Two Recap | Jalen Hurts did not fold; Caleb Williams exits game with injury appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

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Oakland Post

Prior to the final drive, the Eagles ran 25 plays for 45 yards. During the final drive Hurts went 6-8 with 61 passing yards and the touchdown. Titans defensive tackle — and team captain — Jeffery Simmons said this week that the way to defend Jalen Hurts is to make him “play quarterback.”

Hurts said to Simmons after today’s game: “You started that sh**. I had to finish it.”

Running back Saquon Barkley suffered a stinger in the first half but he ultimately finished the game. He had four carries and nine yards and one catch for eleven yards. He will get an MRI for his injury, but admitted to Cameron Wolfe of the NFL Network he was fine.

Caleb Williams leaves game against Vikings with apparent lower-body injury

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams was helped off the field with a right leg injury with 7:42 remaining in the fourth quarter. Williams was down, writhing in pain after scrambling to his left. After departing the injury tent, Williams raised his right fist, acknowledging the crowd while expressing his frustration. Testing will commence on Monday to find out more details about his injury.

“We’ll know tomorrow,” Johnson admitted regarding Williams’ injury. “He’s in good spirits. He’s a team player.”

Williams finished the day with 138 passing yards and one interception.

“I’m actually happy it’s nothing with the knee — that was my first inclination,” Johnson said. “But, a hamstring could be pretty damaging as well. So, we’ll see. We’ll see how bad it is tomorrow and we’ll go from there.”

Bryce Young once again dominated the Falcons

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young is 5-1 against the Atlanta Falcons and is undefeated at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Today, Young threw for 287 yards and three touchdowns as he led the Panthers to a 34-3 dismembering of the Atlanta Falcons. Georgia Tech alumnus Darren Waller caught two touchdowns and linebacker Devin Lloyd returned one of his two interceptions for a touchdown.

Cooper Rush started his second straight game for the Falcons and it did not go well. The partisan crowd voiced their displeasure after Rush completed 10/17 passes for 86 yards and two interceptions. Jack Strand entered the game for Rush prompting cheers from the Falcons fans. The rookie threw a pick-six on his first career pass attempt. Strand was the first QB to accomplish that feat since Sam Darnold in 2018 and is the first Falcons player to do that since Brett Favre in 1991. Strand finished the day with 59 passing yards and 16 rushing yards.

According to reports, quarterback Michael Penix, Jr. is expected to make his season debut this Thursday at the Green Bay Packers. His return should help the Falcons. They are the first team since the 2008 Rams to not run any plays in the red zone after the first two games to open a season.

The bright spots for the Falcons today were the Spelman College Jaguarettes performing with the Falcons cheerleaders and Florida A&M’s marching band, The Marching 100, also performed during halftime!

Jayden Daniels gets carted off after apparent arm injury

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels appeared to injure his left elbow on the final play of the first half in his game against the Dallas Cowboys. During the play, Daniels got stepped on, braced himself for the fall, and his elbow bent the wrong way. Daniels draped a towel over his head as he exited the field on the cart.

He was later ruled out.

Daniels suffered a dislocated elbow to the same arm during week nine of last season against the Washington Commanders, which led to him being shut down for the remainder of the season.

The post NFL: Week Two Recap | Jalen Hurts did not fold; Caleb Williams exits game with injury appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

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The post The Complete Negotiation Framework — Every Stage, Every Tactic, Every Win appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

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Negotiation framework stages, tactics, and winning strategies from AutoNetwork

Roosevelt Gist and Roosevelt deliver the complete vehicle-purchase negotiation framework in Episode 8 of The Color of Our Money Is Green. This episode covers the three foundations of every effective negotiation, the full seven-stage negotiation sequence with exact language for every stage, and five of the most common dealership tactics with the specific response each one requires.
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Why signing preliminary paperwork isn’t the same as signing the final contract
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“The Color of Our Money Is Green: A Buyer’s Guide to What Cars Actually Cost” — stan.store/RGist
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AutoNetwork helps serious car shoppers inspect any new vehicle online before walking into a dealership. I’m Roosevelt — I’ve been reviewing cars and shaping digital car buying and credit union auto leasing since before YouTube car reviews existed.
You’ll find detailed walkaround reviews, POV test drives, and buyer-focused breakdowns covering comfort, space, features, and real-world value.

How to use the channel:
Watch the walkaround of the car you’re considering
Visit AutoNetwork.com for the full review
Check CouponsOffersAndDeals.com for current dealer specials
Walk in already knowing what you want — and what it should cost

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Affiliate disclosure: some links earn a small commission at no cost to you and help support the channel. Insta360 is one of those partners.

The post The Complete Negotiation Framework — Every Stage, Every Tactic, Every Win appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

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The post Mazda CX-90 Luxury: Heated Seats & Premium Comfort! #shorts appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

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