DOJ Official's Anonymous Advocacy of Voter ID Law Spurs Outcry

[BurtWorm]

Another frickin' wingnut asshole using "Publius" as a pseudonym! I HATE that! (Another Bush recess appointment to boot. I hate that even more!)

:insert smiley shuddering in disgust:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/12/AR2006041201950_pf.html

By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 13, 2006; A19

When he was a senior lawyer in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, Hans von Spakovsky played a central role in approving a controversial Georgia voter identification program over the objections of staff lawyers.

But now, after leaving Justice for the Federal Election Commission, von Spakovsky has acknowledged writing a law review article that endorsed photo identification, which was Georgia's approach, before the state's proposal was even submitted to Justice for review. He also took the unusual step of using a pseudonym, "Publius," in publishing the article, which appeared in the spring 2005 issue of the Texas Review of Law & Politics.

The article and its unusual authorship prompted a letter of complaint to the Justice Department last week from the Voting Rights Project, an arm of the American Civil Liberties Union that is opposed to Georgia's voter identification plans. The group said the article shows von Spakovsky had already made up his mind on the issue and that his attempt to hide his views may have violated Justice Department guidelines.

In addition, a link to the Publius article suddenly disappeared this week from the FEC Web site, which had featured the article among a list of von Spakovsky's writings.

"There appears to have been an intentional desire to prevent the public and, in particular, advocates with business before the Voting Section, from knowing the views of one of the senior officials involved," Neil Bradley, the ACLU group's associate director, wrote in his letter to Justice....



PS: Another link in the GOP effort to outlaw democracy. I hate that the most!

[BurtWorm]

1. kick

[BurtWorm]

2. Kick