St. Joseph Newsleader • www.thenewsleaders.com
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Friday, Aug. 30, 2013
Opinion Our View
Time to put teeth back into Voting Rights Act
It’s a despicable irony that on the 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington, efforts to roll back great strides in equality are afoot in so many states in this great nation. The March on Washington in August 1963 led directly to the passage of the landmark Civil Rights of the next couple of years, including the Voting Rights Act of 1965. That Act helped eliminate the devious and corrupt barriers to voting by Afro-Americans, especially in the Deep South where blatantly racist policies had put in place voting hurdles known as ludicrously arbitrary literacy tests, poll taxes, property-ownership qualifications, “character” tests. Such voting barriers had one and only one rationale: to keep blacks and many poor whites from voting so the racist Jim Crow power structure could be maintained. Those voting restrictions were a shameful undermining of democracy, which is – or ought to be – based on universal suffrage, the right of every citizen to cast votes in elections local, statewide and federal. It’s important to remember women did not gain the right to vote until 1920. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court basically gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act, more or less implying so much progress has been made in voting-rights equality it’s not needed anymore. It makes a person wonder if many Supreme Court justices are so uninformed or isolated from American realities they’ve become blind to injustices. Were they not aware of all the votingsuppression efforts, such as in Ohio and Florida, in the last presidential election? They should have known when the cat’s away, the mice will play. And, sure enough, just days after that lamentable court decision, Republicans throughout the country were and are busily erecting barriers to full voter participation. It sounds hollower all the time when they claim they are fighting for election integrity in their insistence on photo IDs, but they have yet to prove any cases of serious voter fraud, and the reason they cannot provide proof is there is no voter fraud to speak of, period. And it’s not just voter ID laws they’re passing. They’re also busy as termites canceling early-voter days, changing polling places and making voting inconvenient if not virtually impossible for three major groups of people: the elderly who are poor, the young (especially college students) and ethnic minorities. Those groups (surprise, surprise) are the very ones who generally tend to vote for Democrats. Recently, the great Gen. Colin Powell, who is a long-time loyal Republican, made a public statement condemning these voter-suppression efforts. He’s aware of how such efforts will hurt, not enhance, his Republican Party. He also knows such efforts will backfire, just as they did in the last election. In that respect, voter suppressors are cutting off their noses to spite their faces. If Republicans want to curry favor with the elderly, the young and ethnic minorities, making it ever harder for them to vote is not the way to do it. Some members of the U.S. Congress are considering reviving the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and putting enforcement teeth back into it once again. Encourage your representatives to do just that because if it isn’t done in time for the next presidential election, these voting-suppression efforts will make a mockery of democracy, and all electoral trust and integrity (the very foundation of our society) will be thrown to the winds.
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Has there been racial progress? Yes, but . . . Fifty years ago, during the great “March for Jobs and Freedom” in Washington, D.C., Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wisely implied in his historic “I Have a Dream” speech that granting Afro-Americans full access to the American Dream would not only revitalize the “dream” but would strengthen America economically, socially and culturally. It’s a lesson some mean-spirited divisionists, sadly, have yet to learn. That particular march on Washington focused, rightly so, on the long-overdue need for black rights in all areas of living. It led to a series of landmark legislative bills in the following years. What the great march did not focus upon were women’s rights (more or less off the radar), LGBT rights (almost unheard of back then) and other rights: the right to health-care access, the right to clean air and safe foods and drugs, the right to a living wage. Still, even though those issues weren’t mentioned in that amazing gathering in the nation’s capital, the event was a watershed and an inspiration for all kinds of rights movements ever since. Has the United States made progress since August 1963? Only a fool would say no. Great strides have been made: the major Civil Rights legislation under President Lyndon B. Johnson; the integration of schools and public facilities; expanded opportunities for African-Americans in entertainment, art, industries, sports, research institutes, academia, housing, politics and more. In the early 1960s, to use the most obvious ex-
Dennis Dalman Editor amples, the number of TV shows with black entertainers could be counted on one hand: Nat King Cole and Diahann Carroll with shows of their own, although there were sometimes guest appearances by greats like Johnny Mathis, Mahalia Jackson, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Little Stevie Wonder and Motown singing groups. It was the same in the movies, with black stars being rarities. Up to 1964, there were only two African-American Oscar winners: Hattie McDaniels as best-supporting actress in 1939 as “Mammy” in Gone with the Wind; and Sidney Poitier as best actor in 1963 for Lilies of the Field. Since then, many more blacks have been nominated and a good many have won: Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whittaker, Halle Berry, Louis Gossett Jr., Cuba Gooding Jr., Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Hudson and more. Others have won in nonacting categories. One could argue, what do Oscar wins have to do with racial progress? Well, for one thing, while not a be-all indicator, they do show an increasing acceptance and admiration for genuine talent and a widespread willingness of mass audiences to embrace blacks and the black experience on the screen. Ask any black person, and he or
she will tell you there is a long way to go toward the goal of Martin Luther King Jr.’s great ‘Dream” speech. And, of course, they are correct. There is not only a long way to go, but just as concerning are the steps taken in recent years to roll back the progress that has been made in that long and painful 50 years of struggle. Some of the battles fought so courageously with sweat, blood and tears have to be fought all over again. Such battles include opposing the blatant efforts at voter suppression largely against blacks (see editorial on this page); an all-out assault in some states against women’s reproductive rights; efforts and successes at trouncing collective-bargaining rights for public employees; a Supreme Court decision proclaiming “corporations are people too” and thus allowing them to hugely influence electoral outcomes by funneling money anonymously; and an alarming trend in which a tiny percentage of rich Americans control more and more of the wealth in the country, which is eroding the American Dream for an increasing number of people. The great strides made in 50 years, we are beginning to realize with increasing dread, are – alas! – reversible, given the current mean-spirited partisan winds of change. It’s comforting to believe this kind of politically-motivated regression will not long succeed, that human-rights progress cannot ultimately be stopped. However, history is rife with such unjust reversals. And that is why the struggle must continue in perpetuity.
Domestic violence calls for a community response Domestic violence affects everyone in our communities. According to one study, one in four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. Another study indicated one in 14 men has been physically assaulted by a current or former spouse, partner, boyfriend/girlfriend or date at some point in his life as well. If you are Native American or African-American, the numbers are even higher. More than 3.3 million children witness domestic violence each year. Research shows witnessing family violence can have serious negative effects on a child’s development. Children exposed to violence often suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, and they are at greater risk of having allergies, asthma, gastrointestinal problems, headaches and flu. In addition to the physical and psychological toll this violence takes, there is a financial toll as well. Intimate-partner violence costs society more than $5.8 billion each year – $4.1 billion for direct medical and mental-health services alone. In my former jobs, I saw domestic violence from many angles. As a lawyer with legal services, I represented victims of domestic abuse. I learned how the court system can be used to help victims of domestic violence get away from their abusers by pursuing criminal charges, obtaining orders
Sarah Hennesy District Court Judge for protection, fighting for custody of children, even changing victims’ names to stay safe from their abusers. As a public defender, I worked with those charged with having committed domestic-abuse crimes. I saw how domestic violence is often a multigenerational problem, seeing firsthand child victims of abuse grow into perpetrators of violence themselves. Most importantly, however, I learned the critical need for judges who hold first and foremost their duty to apply the law impartially and to uphold the Constitution, understanding there is no exception to due process of law simply because the accused is charged with domestic violence. As a judge, I see people in my courtroom every day whose lives and families are being torn apart by domestic violence. Many come to court expecting judges to solve the problem. Judges make decisions on cases that involve domestic violence, such as orders for protection, child-protective services, criminal domestic-abuse cases, and divorce and custody mat-
ters, but it is not the role of the court in these cases to solve the larger social issue of domestic violence; we are bound to apply the laws the legislature has passed to the facts before us. The solution to the domestic-violence problem cannot be found in the courtroom alone; domestic violence is a community problem and it calls for a communitywide solution. Community leaders can help address domestic violence by coordinating communication and cooperation among the various agencies and communitybased organizations – including prosecutors, law enforcement, criminaldefense attorneys, probation, family services, advocacy programs, publicbenefits programs, schools and public-health clinics – in an effort to meet the public safety needs of our communities. Courts can and should be a part of these conversations. Members of the community at large can help by talking about the problem, publicly and privately; by bringing in experts to talk to businesses and community groups; and by reaching out to those who are most directly affected. Strong community partnerships can and should be the cornerstone of our efforts to end domestic violence.
Sarah Hennesy, based in St. Cloud, is a district-court judge for the Seventh Judicial District.