Project 21: Papers

Senator Mitch McConnell is considering taking the “First Step Act” (S. 2795), a criminal justice reform bill, to the Senate floor for a vote during the lame duck session. He should not. The U.S. criminal justice system is in need of reform, but the First Step Act poses significant risks to the safety of the American people – especially those most vulnerable. While the legislation is well-intentioned and includes some good provisions, its efforts to undermine mandatory minimum sentencing threaten to reverse the significant progress made in recent decades in reducing crime. Proponents argue that eliminating mandatory minimum sentencing is ...

The Brennan Center for Justice has been the go-to resource for many opponents of commonsense anti-voter fraud efforts such as voter ID. The essence of the Brennan Center's argument against voter ID is that that voter fraud isn't a real problem, as it happens so infrequently that it isn't a serious matter. In its report, The Truth About Voter Fraud, the Brannan Center explains, "Allegations of widespread voter fraud… often prove greatly exaggerated. It is easy to grab headlines with a lurid claim (‘Tens of thousands may be voting illegally!'); the follow-up — when any exists — is not usually ...

Critics of commonsense anti-fraud measures such as voter ID continue to engage in desperate efforts to change public opinion on the issue, racing from one complaint to another. They've claimed that requiring voters to present identification is a form of voter suppression1, that voter fraud is rare2 and now, a new claim: requiring voter ID supposedly would make it harder for election officials to declare winners in a timely fashion.3 Yes, you read that correctly. Critics of voter ID now claim that rules adopted in some voter ID states that allow a voter who shows up at the polling site ...

All is not well in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The state has announced the shocking preliminary results of an extensive police investigation of voter registration "irregularities" – a polite word for the ugly reality of voter fraud. As the Richmond Times-Dispatch has reported, the investigation has resulted in charges filed against 38 people across the state, with a warrant issued for a 39th person who can't be found. "1 According to reports, most of those cases have resulted in convictions, while 26 more cases continue to be investigated "nearly 3 years after the Board of Elections forwarded more than 400 ...

Election fraud in America is no laughing matter. Florida election officials have discovered that the state's voter polls have 53,000 dead voters still registered to vote.1 That's a whole city of dead voters still "eligible" to vote – more than the entire population of Pensacola, Florida! Unfortunately, in some U.S. cities voter fraud has been so common and so pervasive for so long that it's more likely to be a punch line than a felony. In Chicago, for example, when a couple announces the birth of a new baby boy, their friends are all-too-likely to joke: "Is he registered to ...

Contrary to breathless media reports, there's no reason to believe over 750,000 Pennsylvanians will be turned away from polling places in November as a result of new voter ID protections. Upon closer inspection, such reporting is much ado about nothing. If anything, it makes a stronger case for reforming the voting process to protect against identity fraud at the polls. What the Pennsylvania Departments of State and Transportation did was compare the registered voter list with the driver's license list. It determined that there are over three-quarters of a million more people on the voter list.1 The headlines and lead ...

Summary The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice has formally objected to South Carolina's new voter identification law. The Department of Justice is effectively ignoring Supreme Court precedent, signaling a willingness to ignore electoral voter violations, raising grave constitutional concerns over the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and undermining the equal sovereignty of the States. South Carolina has rightly appealed this decision, but taxpayers unfortunately will have to cover the costs for an unnecessary extended appeal, the outcome of which is wholly predictable. Background Last year South Carolina enacted R54, a bill that requires most ...

Summary The civil rights division of the Department of Justice has formally objected to Texas' new voter identification law. The state of Texas has rightly appealed this decision. Unfortunately for taxpayers in Texas, they will have to cover the costs for an unnecessary extended appeal, the outcome of which is wholly predictable. Background Texas enacted Senate Bill 14 last year in an effort to reduce election fraud. The new law requires most voters to present a government-issued photo ID when they vote in-person at the polls.1 31 states already require voters to present some form of identification when voting at ...

Dead men tell no tales, the old saying goes – but that doesn't mean they can't vote. Shocking new video footage has just been released showing undercover reporters with their hidden cameras rolling, strolling into New Hampshire polling locations and asking to vote in the Granite State's presidential primary. Giving names of recently deceased voters – names they pulled from local obituaries – the reporters were handed ballots and directed to the nearest voting booth. Time after time, the reporters said they had forgotten their ID and turned to walk away, and almost every time they were told that ID ...

Should earmarks paid for with public funds be spent promoting projects under consideration by Congress? Is it OK for a lobbyist to represent a Congressman at a meeting about one of the Congressman's bills? As far as I know, these things as legal, but are they proper? Husband David has an op-ed on TownHall today that examines at a case in which both seem to have happened. At issue is the creation of the Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area, which will run from Gettysburg, PA to Charlottesville, VA, unless President Bush vetoes the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of ...

Despite decades of health warnings, negative ad campaigns and tobacco's well-established bad reputation, 46 million Americans continue to smoke. For many, it's an addiction to the nicotine found in cigarettes that keeps them puffing. There is an alternative, but those claiming they want to stop smoking are an impediment. Smokeless tobacco, now available in pills as an alternative to spit-inducing loose tobacco, delivers nicotine at a significantly reduced risk. Short-sighted public health activists, however, remain committed to a "quit-or-die" strategy that prolongs the nation's love affair with cigarettes and their associated health problems. A government panel in Washington, D.C. last ...

At this weekend's Daytona 500, the beginning of the 2004 NASCAR season, don't expect to spot any black drivers. While NASCAR's logo contains a rainbow of colors, the diversity of hues doesn't translate to the track. Auto racing continues to be a sport of mostly white competitors and fans. In 2003, Bill Shack of Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition called auto racing "the last bastion of white supremacy" in professional sports.1 That's not the case. NASCAR officials want minority drivers, crew and fans, but there's not a whole lot they can do about it. The fundamental problem is that it's hard ...

Select Steel, Inc. couldn't build a steel mill in Genesee County, Michigan due to "environmental justice" concerns. If the staff of a federal commission has its way, more companies might find their expansion plans disrupted as well. To environmental activists and policymakers, "environmental justice" means all communities ought to receive equal environmental protection and regulatory enforcement regardless of race, income or culture.1 Controversies related to the topic thrive on the notion that minority and economically depressed communities bear undue environmental burdens due to their lack of political clout. Genesee County was economically depressed due to the closing of a General ...

Probably thinking of himself as being on the cutting edge of the civil rights struggle, rapper Snoop Dogg broke his ties with Mantra Entertainment - makers of the "Girls Gone Wild" videos - because it doesn't feature enough black and Hispanic girls getting naked.1 "Girls Gone Wild" is a perverted outgrowth of Reality TV. Producer Joe Francis has made a mint filming usually drunk females exposing themselves at beaches, bars and other public places.2 Francis enlisted Snoop to bring celebrity to his smut, but Snoop doesn't think Francis practices enough adults-only affirmative action. "If you notice, there hasn't been no ...

America's 34-million African-Americans should be outraged by the campaign of economic blackmail that a handful of profit-driven personal injury lawyers are waging against the financially beleaguered Republic of South Africa. Against the expressed wishes of the revered Nelson Mandela and President Thabo Mbeki, the lawyers are filing class-action lawsuits in courts against U.S. corporations who did business in South Africa during apartheid - unjustly claiming that their mere presence in the country aided and abetted that nation's racist government. In fact, the companies being sued were signers of the Sullivan Principles on fair labor principles, which Mandela and Mbeki credit ...

Hopes for a swift and lasting economic recovery could be dashed if Congress approves a misbegotten scheme that two independent government agencies have concluded will send energy prices through the roof. The "Climate Stewardship Act of 2003" (S. 139), introduced by Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and co-sponsored by Senator John McCain (R-AZ), would address the supposed problem of "global warming" by suppressing America's use of energy. Similar to the Kyoto Protocol, which the United States has rejected, the Lieberman/McCain bill would require four key sectors of the U.S. economy - commercial, industrial, transportation and electric power - to reduce their ...

Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic National Committee Chairman, puts the "P" in partisan. As attack dogs go, he's the pit bull that Democrats believe they need to lead their party. When he rails against President George W. Bush, corporate corruption and the economy, if you're like me, you stand back a few feet from the television so you don't get hit by the foam and lather he's spewing. But it seems that his tofu for you and steak for me routine is wearing thin - and that's just what his own supporters are saying. Notwithstanding his in your face approach of ...

In the national effort to eliminate infectious diseases, African-American children are being left behind. The statistics are grim: vaccination rates in the African-American community are among the lowest for any demographic group in the country.Simply put, African-American kids are at serious risk for contracting deadly diseases that can easily be prevented. It's urgent that parents and the public and private health communities join together to raise the rates as the school year begins. As a pediatrician who treats children every day and an advocate for appropriate health care in the African-American community, I know first-hand how valuable vaccinations can be ...

That new car you just bought may be a threat to your health - and even your life - thanks to Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. These federal rules are responsible for thousands of needless deaths and injuries. Not only that, CAFE standards make it difficult for many Americans to afford safe cars. The CAFE program was established by Congress in 1975. Current CAFE standards require motor vehicle manufacturers' fleets of cars to average 27.5 miles per gallon of gasoline and their fleets of light trucks (which include minivans and SUVs) to average 20.7 miles per gallon.1 The only ...

Black America needs to fasten its collective seatbelt. According to figures from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), only 69 percent of African-Americans wore seat belts in 2000 as opposed to 74 percent of whites.1 That's just a five percentage point difference, but experts at the historically black Meharry Medical College estimate this percentage could equal at least 125 lives lost and approximately 2,500 injuries.2 Vehicle safety should be a bigger concern in the black community. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for black children up to the age of 14, and the second leading cause ...