Posted on 02/22/2016 6:58:41 PM PST by jazusamo
"Inconceivable."
"This is the first time in 14 years I've seen this."
Those were some of federal district Judge Leon's comments regarding what the Department of Justice asked for in court today, as part of an important case that could impact the integrity of the 2016 election.
The DOJ sought to not fight a lawsuit against the federal Election Assistance Commission (EAC), conceding to a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction filed by the League of Women voters and other activist groups. The EAC had decided to allow Kansas, Arizona, Georgia, and other states "to enforce state laws ensuring that only citizens" would be able to register to vote when they use the federally designed voter registration form.
"Inconceivably," the DOJ did not want to fight against the activists' suit trying to stop the implementation of these voter integrity laws.
As Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach argued today, not allowing states to do this would run afoul of Article I, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Constitution, which reserves voting qualifications for the states. Kansas has already documented 17 cases of non-citizens seeking to register to vote, putting a practical reason behind that state's decision to require that voters provide some sort of evidence of citizenship (passport, birth certificate, naturalization documents, some other enumerated documentation, or any other adequate proof).
And yet DOJ had sought to roll over. Judge Leon would not allow it.
The first action he took from the bench today was to read into the record a letter he had received from a sitting EAC commissioner, noting the possible conflicts that DOJ had in representing the EAC. He then allowed the Kansas Secretary of State time to argue, along with J. Christian Adams of the Public Interest Legal Group (Adams is PJ Media's Legal Editor.)
Judge Leon had other harsh words for the plaintiffs and the DOJ. He said that, ordinarily, DOJ briefs "cover the waterfront," making numerous legal arguments defending their position. Yet in this case, DOJ was refusing to defend an independent agency's right to follow its statutory duty. Judge Leon asked if this represented a possible conflict. The DOJ attorney answered that there was no conceivable set of circumstances in which DOJ might have a conflict of interest vis-Ã -vis its representation of an independent agency in federal court, something that the judge clearly questioned.
Judge Leon noted that the filings reflected upon the quality of "your section [the Federal Programs branch of DOJ] and you specifically [the DOJ attorney]." He said the DOJ position was "very unusual," and "is inconsistent with what I've seen before."
He also appeared perturbed that, after he had granted extra time to the DOJ to get its facts straight, the attorney was still unable to answer questions about the case:
I gave you the weekend ... what the heck have you been doing?
Plaintiff's counsel in the case didn't fare any better, referring repeatedly to other attorneys in the front row for elementary facts of the case:
No, they can't answer -- you can go talk with them.
At the outset, the Judge noted the large crowd appearing for the plaintiff. Over 20 lawyers representing an alphabet soup of activist groups had sought to sit in the front of the courtroom at the counsels' table, but a number were moved back to the gallery. Said Leon:
This is a traveling roadshow, and those must be all your fans.
I overheard a lawyer for the plaintiff say upon reseating:
I guess if you get to be a dictator in your own little fiefdom, that's pretty good.
Why such emotion in a federal court on a motion for a temporary restraining order? Simply put, the case could impact the ability of states to require citizenship proofs to register to vote. While the EAC has no statutory or constitutional authorization to tell states who qualifies as a voter, it does have authority over the federal form that states must use when registering individuals for federal elections. So while the agency has authority over the form, it is required by statute -- and the Constitution, as Secretary Kobach noted in a discussion of federalism and election law -- to allow states a way to place their qualifications on the form.
Judge Leon expressed interest in the communications between the DOJ and the EAC. When pressed, Secretary Kobach named Civil Rights Division attorney Bradley Heard as the attorney he thought was responsible for "commandeering" EAC internal processes, and encouraging it to prohibit proof of citizenship requirements on the federal form prior to this year's decision that is the subject of the current litigation. Judge Leon was interested in hearing about DOJ involvement in developing the EAC form, because this bears on the legality of EAC action and on the propriety of continued DOJ representation of the EAC.
Ultimately, this case appears to be on the fast-track in federal district court. A decision in this case, and a subsequent appeal to the D.C. Circuit, will bear on the ability of states to protect the integrity of their ballots in the 2016 election and in years to come.
This country is undergoing an attempted coup d’etat.
I am speechless! we are witnessing sedition first-hand!
A freaking BLIND man can see that truth.
Thank God for Judge Leon. This is unnerving. I don’t understand the thinking of some people in this country.
Supreme Court now 4-4. Or worse.
Yet Obola’s mass media in their ABCNNBCBS sees no problem at all in their justices chosing ANY opinion they want as the basis for a forsworn judgement.
Yeah, finally another judge that will talk harsh and allow the DOJ to walk all over him.
Seems to happen all the time.
I hear you, I pray that’s not the case here.
If Judge Leon rules for defendants, it will go to the DC Court of Appeals where it will be reversed and then appealed to SCOTUS which is absent Scalia.
Not looking good.
There are millions of illegals out there that have their IDs prepped and ready to go should Judge Hanen’s injunction be overturned. IF EAC is restrained, the illegals will have a free pass to register to vote without proving citizenship.
Looking bleak.
If I was Judge Leon I would start sleeping without any pillows around.
I share that with you.
I’m hoping that it’s clear there is a new sheriff coming to town, and that fact will give judges and other public leaders permission to start getting back to basics.
Some folks are in for a rude awakening if that happens.
I pray that’s the case too.
It never once occurred to me to attempt to involve myself in their elections, at any level!
What was that TEA Party group the corrupt Obama IRS denied certification for ...True the Vote ?...yeah ask some 5th amendment claiming partisan apparatich named Lois about that...Just saying.
It’s disgusting. They’re all about the constitution when it comes to nominating supreme court justices, though.
“I guess if you get to be a dictator in your own little fiefdom, that’s pretty good.”
The Judge should have slammed this a-hole into a cell for contempt on the spot.
L
There’s much to be said for that.
If judges would start doing that we would soon have administrations that wouldn’t have lapdog DOJ lawyers representing cases contrary to the rule of law.
Loretta promises to do better when she’s a Supreme Court Justice.
There is no way, any judgement that allows the States to verify citizenship for voting purposes can be allowed to stand. The fix is in. Has been for a while. The voting system has been corrupted and the Left means to keep it that way.
This is why Hillary will be the next POTUS.
It boggles the mind to know that the Left has to use deceit to stay relevant.
Have to wonder what this country would be like, if they were forced to actually have to defend their positions in an open and fair debate. With the media doing their job and just reporting on the issues, allowing the people to make up their own minds. Of course, there will always be liberal strongholds, but there’d be no way, no effin’ way that the Left would have the juice it has enjoyed for so long.
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