Civil Rights News: Voting Rights Legislation Threatens Democracy; House Budget Targets Low-Income Americans to Sustain Military Spending; Justice Department Targets Constitutional Violations in a New Orleans Prison

Compiled by Wally McElwain, a Spring 2012 intern.

A Vote for Universal Registration
Katrina Vanden Heuvel
Washington Post

Over the last year, 34 state legislatures have proposed legislation that could potentially disenfranchise 5 million Americans. Seven states have passed laws requiring voters to present photo ID at the polls. One in ten Americans lack an acceptable form of government-issued ID. Dozens of other states have restricted early voting, disenfranchised ex-felons, and limited the ability of organizations to register voters. For example, a Florida high school teacher is facing a $1,000 fine for registering her students to vote, because she didn’t return the registration forms within 48 hours.

Conservative proponents of such laws cite voter fraud as a serious threat to the integrity of elections, which the new voting rights legislation supposedly solves. However, the Brennan Center for Justice has found that somebody is more likely to be struck by lightning than impersonate a voter. The greater threat to democracy is the disenfranchisement of Americans by these laws.

Callous Choices in the House
Editorial
New York Times

House Republicans are attempting to sidestep the deficit deal they agreed to last August, which mandated cutting $600 billion in military and domestic spending over a decade. The House Republicans refuse to accept the originally agreed upon military cuts, and they strongly oppose Democrats’ proposals to raise revenues through increasing taxes on the wealthy.

The 2013 House budget, written by Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, has proposed drastic cuts in programs that benefit the poorest Americans. The House budget would cut billions of dollars from food stamps and health care to avoid cutting military spending. The Senate and the White House have said they would reject the proposed cuts, and the Senate Republicans have agreed to abide by the previously agreed upon spending targets.

Louisiana: Prison Conditions Draw Threat
Campbell Robertson
New York Times

Last November, federal investigators sent a draft consent decree, an agreed-upon but judicially mandated plan for prison reform, to the Orleans Parish sheriff, Marlin Gusman. The New Orleans law enforcement agency has faced increasing criticism from the Justice Department for failing to implement these changes as conditions worsen in Orleans Parish Prison. On Monday, the Justice Department threatened Orleans Parish with litigation if they do not immediately address constitutional violations in the prison.