Holder, who last month announced plans to step down once a successor is confirmed, called the recent wave of restrictive voting laws in Republican-controlled states “very disheartening,” adding: “This hearkens back to a dark time in our history.” In her ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos declared the law an unconstitutional poll tax, since it requires people to spend money to obtain the documents they need to get an ID. Back in 2012, Holder used the same term to describe the law. “President Clinton and I both called it a poll tax,” he said Tuesday, “and it’s heartening to hear that the judge agreed.” Gonzales Ramos also found that the Texas voter ID law intentionally discriminated on the basis of race, since blacks and Hispanics are much more likely than whites to lack ID and have trouble getting one. That means Texas could potentially be bailed back into the pre-clearance system—something the Justice Department’s lawsuit asked for. “We’re not presuming anything but we’re hopeful,” Holder said on the issue of bailing Texas back in. “And I think it’s significant that the court did find that the [voter ID law] was enacted with a discriminatory intent.” [...] Beyond voting rights, Holder said he had no regrets about his pledge to try the 9/11 suspects in a federal court in New York—a plan that died amid opposition from Congress—suggesting that events had shown he was right. “All the issues that I was concerned about by putting it in the military system have proven to be real,” Holder said. “I regret that political pressure won out, and the case was not brought into the federal system. Because if the case had been brought into the federal system it would be over by now. And there’s no question that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his confederates would be convicted and probably facing death sentences.” Asked about New York Times reporter James Risen, who has been the subject of a controversial Justice Department prosecution for reporting leaks of classified information, Holder repeated a pledge he has made before. “If a reporter is doing that which he or she does as a reporter, no reporter is going to go to jail as long as I am attorney general,” he said. “We decided that perhaps there were some legitimate concerns raised, and we met with members of the media and revamped the way in which we interact with members of the media.”
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 18:51:46 +0000
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