| Submit your comments on this article |
| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Former U.S. prosecutor to testify on New Black Panthers charges |
| 2010-07-05 |
| As voters were casting the ballots that elected America's first black president in November 2008, a troubling incident occurred outside a polling place in North Philadelphia, the Justice Department later contended. There, two members of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense hurled racial threats and insults at black and white voters, federal prosecutors in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division alleged in a complaint accusing the group and three members of violating the federal Voting Rights Act. The prosecutors later won a default judgment against Minister King Samir Shabazz, whom they identified as leader of the Philadelphia chapter, and sought dismissal of charges against the organization and two other members. Now, one of the prosecutors, J. Christian Adams, has resigned from the Justice Department amid a widening flap over the case. He said he was scheduled to testify Tuesday before the U.S. Civil Rights Commission in an investigation over dismissal of the charges. Adams said Friday that he disagreed with the decision to dismiss charges. Though his name is on the court document seeking the dismissal, Adams said he believes the case should have been pursued. "I was just following instructions to dismiss the case," Adams said in an interview. Adams said there has been long-standing opposition in the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department toward "race-neutral enforcement" of the voting-rights law during the Obama administration as well as when President George W. Bush was in office. "I believe in a robust protection of voters," said Adams, who has been busy doing interviews on Fox News and radio talk shows since leaving the Justice Department in early June. According to court papers, Shabazz, brandishing a nightstick, and a second member stood at the entrance to the polling place in the 1200 block of Fairmount Avenue. The two "made menacing and intimidating gestures, statements, and movements," the complaint said. While the prosecutors dismissed charges against the organization, its leader and the third member, they won an order barring Shabazz from displaying a weapon within 100 feet of any open polling location in Philadelphia on any Election Day through 2012. Justice Department spokesman Tracy Schmaler told the Associated Press that the charges against the New Black Panthers were dropped because they were not supported by the facts or by the law. On its website, the New Black Panther Party says that "the white man has kept us deaf, dumb, and blind," and that it seeks "the overdue debt of reparations." A group spokesperson could not be reached for comment. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #13 Have some courage. Stand up for whats right IN YOUR PLACE OF DUTY. Force them to publicly relieve you of duties. Standing up is exactly what the guy did. He worked for the DOJ - the one that forbid everyone to respond to subpoena from the Civil Rights commision. By resigning, he can testify. Getting fired lets them set the scene. See ex-Inspector General Walprin for an example. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2010-07-05 22:42 |
| #12 I'll try not to lick any additional boots tonight, OS. |
| Posted by: Matt 2010-07-05 21:05 |
| #11 So the lawyer, working for the government is to do nothing but follow orders he knows to be wrong? Are lawyers to be excepted from moral behavior? If so then that is one of the prime reasons all lawyers of the "just following orders" Nazi-excuse sort should be beaten severely, pour encourager les autres. "just following orders" That didn't wash at Nuremburg. What happened to standing up and REFUSING to drop cases he already *justly* filed, forcing the issue? Have some courage. Stand up for whats right IN YOUR PLACE OF DUTY. Force them to publicly relieve you of duties. You lawyers want to know why people have low opinions of you? This is why - you have NO COURAGE. You are bootlickers. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2010-07-05 20:25 |
| #10 Hope someone is sprucing up the John Mitchell wing in the Fed system. Wouldn't want the EPA delay utilization because it wasn't 99.99% clean and free for occupancy. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-07-05 20:01 |
| #9 "deaf, dumb, and blind" Well, ya' got the dumb part down pat.... |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2010-07-05 19:00 |
| #8 On its website, the New Black Panther Party says that "the white man has kept us deaf, dumb, and blind," and that it seeks "the overdue debt of reparations." So that is your excuse for criminality and racism? The DOJ is fostering this criminality and racism by doing nothing about it. Although this originates out the Civil Rights Division in the DOJ, ultimately, this falls on Holder's doorstep. There is nothing civil or right about this. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-07-05 17:41 |
| #7 Dead Man Squawking... |
| Posted by: Spatch Speaking for Boskone8774 2010-07-05 15:46 |
| #6 Matt's right - resigning to testify was the right thing to do. Holder's DOJ has been defying legitimate demands for testimony and documentation because the racists are in power now. Holder should be thrown on his ass in jail along with the chain-of-command above Adams |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-07-05 15:15 |
| #5 OS, the guy is an attorney which means that he is acting on behalf of somebody else, in this case the US of A. We don't need attorneys filing suit on behalf of the USA when they haven't been authorized to do so, anymore than you'd want someone filing a suit in your name that you didn't want filed. If what Adams is saying is true, he did the right thing by bitching up a storm and then resigning. lotp, the most you'll ever hear is probably a quiet little announcement that so-and-so will henceforth be working with the FBI field office in Furthest Uzbekistan. As for the possibility that the Obama White House could politically influence OPR: I hope to God not. That would be the law-world equivalent of the Iranians having our launch codes. |
| Posted by: Matt 2010-07-05 14:27 |
| #4 A question I have: Why did the guy drop the case, when he knew it was wrong? "I was just following orders" doesn't cut it for the military, why should we excuse lawyers? Stand up, do the right thing, refuse to stop the case, and continue prosecute it fully. Force Holder to show his bloody hands. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2010-07-05 13:50 |
| #3 IIUC they are - but how independent this invesitgation is, and whether their findings will become public if they do act independent of political motives and pressure, is perhaps another matter. |
| Posted by: lotp 2010-07-05 13:06 |
| #2 Glenmore, you hit on the head in the sense of why we need to get to the bottom of Adams' claims. The idea that Holder behaved like a political appointee is hardly shocking. But, if I read him correctly, Adams is saying that there is a "rogue" unit at "Main Justice", the headquarters of the DOJ in Washington. Main Justice is arguably the most powerful non-military institution in the country, since it controls the FBI and other arms of the federal law enforcement apparatus. It is therefore the very last place you want to see misconduct among career professionals. A point I am truly curious about is whether the legendary Office of Professional Responsibility at Main Justice is looking at this. OPR is the last line of defense. |
| Posted by: Matt 2010-07-05 12:43 |
| #1 I hope Adams has a good lawyer because it won't be long before they concoct something to arrest him for. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2010-07-05 10:35 |