Justice's Voting Chief Steps Down Amid Controversy
By Greg Gordon
McClatchy Newspapers
Friday 14 December 2007
Washington - The Justice Department's voting rights chief stepped
down Friday amid allegations that he'd used the position to aid a
Republican strategy to suppress African-American votes.
John Tanner became the latest of about a dozen senior department
officials, including former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who've
resigned in recent months in a scandal over the politicization of the
Justice Department in the Bush administration.
In recent months, McClatchy has reported on a pattern of
decision-making within the department's Civil Rights Division, of which
the Voting Rights Section is a part, that tended to narrow the voting
rights of Democratic-leaning minorities.
Tanner has been enmeshed for months in congressional investigations
over his stewardship of the unit that was established to protect
minority-voting rights. He drew increased focus this fall after he told
a Latino group: "African-Americans don't become elderly the way white
people do. They die."
In addition, the Justice Department opened an internal investigation
into allegations that Tanner unfairly had deprived two veteran
African-American staffers of bonuses and that he and a deputy had
misused tax dollars on official trips.
Department spokesman Peter Carr said in a statement that Tanner, of
his own accord, ``made the decision to pursue (an) opportunity" to work
in the Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair
Employment Practices. But his transfer to a lower-profile job appeared
to continue a quiet housecleaning that began after retired judge Michael
Mukasey took over as attorney general early last month with a vow to rid
the agency of partisanship.
Chris Coates, a veteran lawyer in the Voting Rights Section, was
named the acting chief.
The change drew a hopeful reaction from congressional Democrats.
Michigan Rep. John Conyers, who chairs the House Judiciary
Committee, assailed the department for "a remarkably poor record of
protecting voting rights" and expressed hope that Tanner's successor
"will mark a departure from efforts to limit the participation of
elderly and minority voters."
In an e-mail note to staffers announcing his departure, Tanner said
that "to better assist in a smooth transition, I am stepping down from
my position as section chief immediately while I pack and sort through
three decades of work."
While Tanner hailed his accomplishments, asserting that the section
had "tripled the number of new lawsuits" compared with the period before
he took office, critics have charged that the department has filed few
suits on behalf of African-American voting rights.
Shortly after he became section chief in 2005, Tanner reversed the
recommendation of the career staff that the department object to a
Georgia law requiring voters in that state to produce photo
identification cards. The staff had argued that the law would
disenfranchise minority voters.
A federal judge later blocked implementation of the law, likening it
to a Jim Crow-era poll tax because poor minority voters, who are most
likely to lack driver's licenses, would be required to buy photo IDs.
This October, after making his comments about the shorter life span
of blacks while defending the Georgia law, Tanner apologized for his
"clumsiness" before a House Judiciary subcommittee.
Tanner also drew harsh criticism for directing a crackdown to force
states to purge hundreds of thousands of names from voter registration
rolls, an initiative that critics charge was aimed at disenfranchising
minority voters, who move frequently.
He's facing an investigation by the department's Office of
Professional Responsibility into multiple allegations that he mistreated
staff and abused his travel privileges. At least two of the inquiries
stem from formal complaints from members of his staff.
In late November, the Web site TPM Muckraker reported that Tanner
had made taxpayer-funded trips to Hawaii for three straight years, twice
staying a full week although his work was completed within a couple of
business days. The Web site said he'd made 36 trips covering 97 days
since taking the helm in May 2005.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121507Y.shtml
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