At some point, they still need to be credible with someone. The evidence of partisan misconduct in the Black Panther voter intimidation case is overwhelming.
The uncontroverted story on Election Day, 2008Panthers Minister King Samir Shabazz and Jerry Jackson, in black paramilitary garb, stood outside the polling place in close formation, Shabazz brandishing a night-stick, while they used racial epithets and threatening language and gestures. Witnesses reported seeing at least several voters take stock of the situation and turn around and leave without voting. Former Kennedy family civil rights lawyer Bartle Bull, who was on the scene, said it was the worst example of voter intimidation he had ever seen. Not one person, in any forum, has ever contested these basic facts. Ever.
The chargesA team of Department of Justice (DoJ) career attorneys led by former ACLU attorney and multiple award-winning lawyer Christopher Coates brought civil rights charges against both Panthers on the scene, plus against national Panther leader Malik Zulu Shabazz and the national party as a whole, based on statements made by Shabazz and other Panther leaders indicating that the stationing of Mr. Jackson and the other (unrelated) Shabazz was part of a nationwide effort. The attorney team wanted to secure a nationwide injunction against all the defendants, prohibiting them from any similar activity in future elections. (The Panthers also would have been subject to repaying the DoJ for legal costs expended during the proceedings.) The Panthers failed even to contest the charges. The judge was ready to enter a default judgment against them, but just when the lawyers were ready to submit the paperwork, Obama political-appointee superiors pulled the plug. Charges were completely dropped against Zulu Shabazz, the party, and Mr. Jackson -- the latter a registered Democratic Party poll-watcher and local elected Democratic Party official. Samir Shabazz received an injunction against brandishing a weapon within 100 feet of polls -- already illegal anyway -- only within the city limits of Philadelphia and only for the next four years.
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