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We Just Had TWO Big Victories for Voting Rights! Saturday's GNR [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2023-09-09
This week brought two big victories for voting rights — and both from conservative judges.
First:
Court tosses Alabama congressional map after GOP refuses to draw second Black district
Alabama’s congressional map is once again in the spotlight. On Tuesday, in a massive win for voters, federal judges struck down Alabama's new congressional map, ruling that lawmakers defied a prior court order and the U.S. Supreme Court's requirement to draw a map with two majority-Black districts. The court struck down the state's redrawn congressional map and ordered a court-appointed special master to draw fair districts for 2024.
Last year, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined four conservative justices to keep the map in place due to the proximity to the 2022 midterms. However, Kavanaugh joined the majority opinion in June 2023 that required the lawmaker’s to draw new maps and experts believe a pause of Tuesday’s ruling is unlikely this time around. If the Court declines to pause the decision, then a new map would have to be drawn ahead of 2024.
Second:
Florida Judge Strikes Down DeSantis Congressional Map for Diminishing Black Voting Power in North Florida
In another victory for voters, a Florida judge struck down the state’s congressional map over the weekend, ruling that the map — which was pushed through by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) — violates the state constitution by diminishing the voting power of Black Floridians. The DeSantis map eliminated the former configuration of North Florida’s 5th Congressional District by spreading Black voters across four separate districts. By the state’s own admission, the DeSantis map has violated the state constitution by diminishing the Floridians voting power. The clincher is, however, that they argued Florida’s constitution, in fact, violates the U.S. Constitution. The state has already appealed this decision, which automatically pauses the ruling pending further review. If the Florida Supreme Court accepts the appeal, a final decision must be issued by Dec. 31, per an earlier agreement between the parties.
What does this mean?
Republican voting suppressors should get tired of losing
Republicans’ efforts to undermine democracy and suppress voting among non-White voters will continue. But the courts — even those in which right-wing judges predominate — appear to have lost patience with their brazen lawlessness.
What this means is that our fight to save democracy is not over, but it is also far from lost! Let’s keep at it.
Biden and the Democrats Continue to be GREAT
Biden Administration Proposes Rule To Curb Disability Discrimination In Health Care
Federal officials are proposing new regulations prohibiting medical providers from discriminating against people with disabilities and setting new standards for accessibility at the doctor’s office. Specifically, the rule would bar medical treatment decisions from being based on biases or stereotypes about disabilities. Likewise, judgements about the value of an individual’s life or their burden on others could not factor into treatment decisions related to organ transplants, life-sustaining care, crisis standards of care or otherwise. In addition, the proposal would ensure that child welfare programs do not discriminate against individuals with disabilities in parent-child visitation, reunification services, child removals and child placement, guardianship, parenting skills programs, foster and adoptive parent assessments and other services.
Judge orders Texas to remove floating border barriers, granting Biden administration request
A federal judge in Austin on Wednesday ordered Texas to remove river barriers that the state assembled along a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border to repel migrants, giving the Biden administration an early victory in its lawsuit against the buoys approved by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. While Abbott and other Texas officials have said the river barriers are designed to discourage migrants from attempting to enter the U.S. unlawfully and unsafely, human rights activists, Democratic lawmakers and a Texas state medic have raised concerns about the structures forcing migrants to swim across deepers parts of the Rio Grande where the risk of drowning is greater.
IRS plans to crack down on 1,600 millionaires to collect millions in back taxes
The IRS announced on Friday it is launching an effort to aggressively pursue 1,600 millionaires and 75 large business partnerships that owe hundreds of millions of dollars in past due taxes. IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel said that with a boost in federal funding and the help of artificial intelligence tools, the agency has new means of targeting wealthy people who have “cut corners" on their taxes. “If you pay your taxes on time it should be particularly frustrating when you see that wealthy filers are not,” Werfel told reporters in a call previewing the announcement. He said 1,600 millionaires who owe at least $250,000 each in back taxes and 75 large business partnerships that have assets of roughly $10 billion on average are targeted for the new “compliance efforts."
Bad News for Bad Guys
Some GREAT news last night:
Judge Denies Meadows’s Request to Move Georgia Case to Federal Court
Georgia prosecutors leading the criminal election interference case against former President Donald J. Trump and 18 of his allies notched a victory on Friday when a judge rejected an effort by Mark Meadows, Mr. Trump’s former White House chief of staff, to move his case from state court to federal court. The setback for Mr. Meadows came in the first of many rulings that are expected for the defendants who are seeking to have their cases moved out of state court. Mr. Trump has not filed for a removal to federal court, but he is widely expected to do so. However, the ruling, by Judge Steve C. Jones of the Northern District of Georgia, does not bode well for any of those efforts. An early trial is already scheduled to start in state court on Oct. 23 for two defendants, Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, who have invoked their right for a speedy trial under Georgia law. The question of where the trials will take place is significant in another way as well. Unlike in federal court, the proceedings in state court will be televised, setting the stage for long-running public trials focused on efforts by Mr. Trump and his allies to cling to power.
Why Hunter Biden might not be the slam dunk issue GOP commentators hoped
Aides to President Joe Biden had braced for the Republican candidates to pile on the Hunter Biden attacks during the first primary debate. His campaign even drafted a rapid response press release on the issue. They never had to send it out. The controversy surrounding Hunter Biden is falling flat in the GOP primary. Instead, there is a growing recognition within some corners of the GOP — and among former President Donald Trump’s rivals, significantly — that the issue may not resonate as much as they once hoped
Why the White House thinks impeachment may prove risky for Republicans
The White House has been gradually preparing for a GOP impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden and increasingly feels that it will benefit more from the probe than Republicans will. “The only problem with [Republicans’] impeachment strategy is they have absolutely no grounds for impeaching the president,” said one adviser to the White House who, like many others interviewed for this piece, was granted anonymity to speak freely about discussions.
Clashes mount between Trump and his legal nemesis
Special counsel Jack Smith is not done with former President Donald Trump and his entourage, despite charging him with four criminal counts over his attempt to overthrow the 2020 election and more than three dozen other charges over his hoarding of classified documents in Florida. The clash between the hard-driving prosecutor and the world’s most famous defendant escalated even further on Tuesday, as new details of Smith’s widening probe into election interference emerged. The special counsel is now looking at how money raised off baseless claims of voter fraud was used to fund attempts to breach voting equipment in several states won by President Joe Biden, CNN exclusively reported.
Trump’s co-defendants are already starting to turn against him
The finger-pointing among Donald Trump’s inner circle has begun. And as his four criminal cases march toward trials, some of his aides, allies and co-defendants are pointing at the former president. In court documents and hearings, lawyers for people in Trump’s orbit — both high-level advisers and lesser known associates — are starting to reveal glimmers of a tried-and-true strategy in cases with many defendants: Portray yourself as a hapless pawn while piling blame on the apparent kingpin. It’s a strategy that could sharpen as the Georgia case moves closer to a jury. The case includes numerous defendants with much smaller alleged roles than those of Trump or his top aides. If a jury primarily blames Trump for the events that played out in the aftermath of the 2020 election, the lower-profile co-defendants may seem less culpable by comparison.
Mar-a-Lago IT worker struck cooperation agreement with special counsel, his former lawyer says
Mar-a-Lago IT worker Yuscil Taveras has struck a cooperation agreement with the special counsel’s office in the federal case over former President Donald Trump’s handling of classified documents, Taveras’ former defense attorney said in a new court filing. According to the terms of the deal explained in the filing, Taveras agreed to testify in the classified documents case and in exchange will not be prosecuted. The filing marks the first public acknowledgment that special counsel Jack Smith has won the cooperation of key witnesses as part of his prosecution of Trump, his longtime valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira.
x This was coming but important that it's here -- may be precursor to movement from other Ds, in both cases. Now question is: how can Nauta and DeOlivera not do the same?
https://t.co/1NEMEFmdsY — Harry Litman (@harrylitman) September 6, 2023
Trump is liable in the second E. Jean Carroll defamation case, judge rules; January trial will determine damages
A federal judge ruled that the jury hearing E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit will only need to decide how much money Donald Trump will have to pay her, after the judge found the former president was liable for making defamatory statements. The finding is a significant blow to Trump, who is facing numerous criminal indictments and civil lawsuits – many of them coming to a head as he embarks on a presidential campaign. Judge Lewis Kaplan said that a federal jury’s verdict earlier this year against Trump will carry over to the defamation case set to go to trial in January involving statements Trump made in 2019 about Carroll’s sexual assault allegations.
Jurors Convict Trump Loyalist Peter Navarro After Just 4 Hours
A federal jury on Thursday dropped the ax on Peter Navarro, finding the ex-Donald Trump adviser and MAGA loyalist guilty of a pair of contempt of Congress charges after just four hours of deliberations. He’s now facing a sentence of up to two years behind bars. Navarro, who gained notoriety for the extreme efforts he made to try to overturn the 2020 election, was busted for ignoring a subpoena to hand over documents and testify before the House’s Jan. 6 committee.
Ex-Leader of Proud Boys Sentenced to 22 Years in Jan. 6 Sedition Case
Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys, was sentenced on Tuesday to 22 years in prison for the central role he played in organizing a gang of his pro-Trump followers to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and stop the peaceful transfer of presidential power. Mr. Tarrio’s sentence, stemming from his conviction this spring on charges of seditious conspiracy, was the most severe penalty handed down so far to any of the more than 1,100 people charged in connection with the Capitol attack But of all the sentences handed down so far, Mr. Tarrio’s was the most notable — not only because of its length, but also because of what it suggested about the current state of the Proud Boys.
Why didn’t Willis indict more?
Seeing this criticism a lot so here are two answers:
x Seeing lots of news reports highlighting that D.A. Fani Willis did not indict U.S. senators despite special grand jury recommendations. Doing so would have 1) potential constitutional hurdles and 2) would give folks like Jim Jordan a clear "hook" to do what he's doing now — Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) September 8, 2023
x Good points by @AshaRangappa_ . More generally, she was already biting off such a big case & might have decided it was a breaking pt. Even more generally, there are dozens of reasons–inc admissibility of key points of evidence, defenses--that cd make a prosec decide to forbear.
https://t.co/pwc233Hkd7 — Harry Litman (@harrylitman) September 8, 2023
On The Lighter Side
What can you do to save democracy?
Here are some ideas:
We here at the GNR have set up a fundraising ActBlue account where you can donate and have it evenly distributed between 24 races that will be key to winning the House in 24!
Go ahead and donate at this link:
More worried about keeping tfg out of the WH? You could:
Looking for something else? Maybe something that doesn’t involve donating? GREAT! Here are some other ideas:
So pick just one and get to it!
I am so lucky and so proud to be in this with all of you 💓💚💛🧡✊🏻✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿✊❤️🧡💛💚
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