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The Afro-American, April 26, 2014 - April 26, 2014
April 26, 2014 - May 2, 2014, The Afro-American
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Wisconsin Suppression
‘...A Life and Death Struggle for Voting Rights’ By Zenitha Prince Senior AFRO Correspondent
Part II in an ongoing series on efforts to reverse voting rights in this country Anita Johnson, a community organizer with Citizen Action of Wisconsin, spends her days beating the streets—knocking on doors, visiting senior citizen homes, addressing congregations and other groups about changes in election laws. In previous months, her days were spent in Madison at the state capitol, testifying, agitating, shaming the General Assembly about the slew of new restrictive voting laws lawmakers were ramming down the electorate’s throat. But, to no avail. When Wisconsin voters go to the ballot box in August and November they will have to surmount new barriers to voting. “The climate of voting has changed all over the U.S.—not only in Wisconsin…it’s pretty depressing,” said Johnson, a longtime community activist. Rep. Gwen Moore, a Wisconsin Democrat,
agreed with that assessment. “This is a life and death struggle for voting rights,” she said. “There have been so many efforts to block the vote here. It is a totally un-American and retrograde situation,” she added. “We hold ourselves up as a beacon of democracy around the world. It’s very embarrassing for people to see these efforts to restrict the vote.” In the backlash from President Barack Obama’s historic election in 2008 and the Great Recession, Republicans swarmed into governor’s mansions and legislatures throughout the country, including in Wisconsin. And then came the so-called “election integrity” laws—restrictive voter ID rules, abbreviated early voting hours, purging of voter lists and other measures—justified by claims, such as voter fraud, that have little to no basis in fact. In Wisconsin, Republican Gov. Scott Walker in 2011 enacted a new law requiring all voters to have government-issued IDs. But a study by the Brennan Center showed that in the 2004 presidential election, where irregularities led to claims of widespread fraud, only seven
Mayfield
Continued from A1 “Everything he did he was the best at,” said Dara Calhoun, a school psychologist at Edmondson-Westside and co-coordinator of the peer mediation program in which Mayfield served as a student mediator. Reading the list of Mayfield’s accomplishments, it is hard to argue with the sentiment. In addition to the band scholarship, Mayfield was considering another scholarship offer to play baseball, a sport in which he had excelled as a starting pitcher. Mayfield was also the drilling ceremony commander for the Junior ROTC program at Edmondson-Westside, and had recently helped lead his fellow members to five trophies in a city-wide JRTOC competition. A talented musician, star athlete, JROTC commander, and a peer mediator, Mayfield was also a student representative in the Edmondson Westside student government, and a youth leader with the Inner Harbor Project, “an organization dedicated to making the Inner Harbor a safe and inclusive public space for Baltimoreans, tourists, and businesses,” according to its website. As a peer mediator, Mayfield would often identify conflicts among his classmates and take it upon himself to help bring about a
SCOTUS
Continued from A1 of Michigan, whose voters approved an initiative banning racial preferences in university admissions. The measure, called Proposal 2, was passed by 5842 percent of voters in 2006, but has been embroiled in legal challenges for almost a decade. In 2008, a District Court upheld Proposal 2, but the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the lower court’s judgment in 2011. With the Supreme Court’s ruling today, the Michigan law is back in force. The high court’s decision was not unexpected, Anderson said. “The Supreme Court has always been very cautious about approving specific affirmative action plans,” he said. “The basic idea of diversity has occasionally obtained support by justices, beginning with the Bakke case in 1978, but it has always been difficult to get the vote to uphold specific programs.” Justice Anthony Kennedy, in his opinion shared by Justices John Roberts Jr. and Samuel Alito Jr., said the ruling did not weigh the
Courtesy Photo
Michael Mayfield peaceful resolution without the need for prodding from adults or school officials. “He had just a willingness and a desire to help others. He always stood up for the underdog,” said Calhoun, who had grown so close to Michael that she affectionately
viability of affirmative action policies. Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas joined in a separate concurring opinion and Justice Stephen Breyer offered another concurring opinion. “This case is not about the constitutionality, or the merits, of race-conscious admissions policies in higher education,” Kennedy wrote. “…The holding in the instant case is simply that the courts may not disempower the voters from choosing which path to follow.” Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s exhaustive 58-page dissent suggested such reasoning was a cowardly retreat from the persistent problems of race and from the high court’s duty to uphold equal protection for all citizens. “Without checks democratically approved legislation can oppress minority groups,” she wrote in an opinion shared by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The majority in Michigan reconfigured the political process, creating a “twotiered” system “that burdened racial minorities,” she added. According to Michigan’s law, raced-based admissions proposals have to overcome a challenge to the state
Constitution, while other proposals—such as those based on athletics or legacy— simply have to go to school boards. The majority “effectively rigs the contest to guarantee a particular outcome,” Sotomayor, an affirmative action beneficiary, said. Sotomayor further argued that the court’s decision would lead to a drop in minority enrollment and, therefore, to less diversity, citing outcomes in California and other states with similar policies to Michigan’s. “The statistics I have described make that fact glaringly obvious,” she said. Civil rights groups agree with Sotomayor’s assessment. “Today’s Supreme Court decision is a step backward for racial inclusion by allowing voters to overrule the decision of Michigan University officials to consider race in admissions to achieve diversity,” said Jon Greenbaum, chief counsel for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, in a statement. “The Court has disregarded long-standing precedent which prevents the majority from passing legislation that reconfigures the political process in ways that burden only a racial minority.” In addition to Michigan and California, Florida, Washington, Arizona, Nebraska, Oklahoma and New Hampshire have similar prohibitions on raciallyconscious admissions policies. The court’s ruling does not impact affirmative action programs in the 42 other states.
substantiated cases (0.0002 percent) of voter fraud were identified—all by persons with felony convictions. Even so, just this year, lawmakers passed laws that: restrict early voting to the two weeks before Election Day, eliminating weekend hours altogether; allow poll observers and challengers to stand closer — at least 3 feet — away from voters at the polls; allow lobbyists to contribute to campaigns much earlier even as legislators deliberate on issues affecting the lobbyists’ clients; and make residency requirements much harder. Detractors say it’s all an attempt to rig the system to block certain Democratic voting blocs—minorities, the poor, the young, etc.— from accessing the ballot box, thus ensuring that the GOP remains in power. “It is really partisan politicians manipulating the election system,” said Leigh Chapman, staff attorney with Advancement Project. “Community groups are fighting back but it’s really difficult when the Legislature is one party and they are controlling the laws and the system.”
Even GOP supporters questioned the motive behind the new voting laws. State Sen. Dale Shultz (R), speaking on “The Devil’s Advocates” radio program on Madison’s 92.1 FM in March, said the dozens of vote-suppressing bills pushed by his party was based on the “mythology” of voting fraud. “I began this session thinking that there was some lack of faith in our voting process and we maybe needed to address it. But I have come to the conclusion that this is far less noble,” he said of the GOP-led efforts. He added, “I am not willing to defend them anymore. I’m just not, and I’m embarrassed by this.” “It’s just, I think, sad when a political party — my political party — has so lost faith in its ideas that it’s pouring all of its energy into election mechanics…. “It ought to be abundantly clear to everybody in this state that there is no massive voter fraud. The only thing that we do have in this state is we have long lines of people who want to vote. And it seems to me that we should be doing everything we can to make it easier. See more on afro.com
referred to him as ‘son,’ while he referred to Mayfield, dedicated in life to the peaceful her as ‘ma.’ resolution of conflicts, will soon be laid to rest, For Cheo Thomas, a senior at Edmondsona victim of the violence that continues to afflict Westisde and a fellow JROTC member, Baltimore City and which took, in Mayfield, Mayfield was “A person who was always there another random victim. The family has chosen to help. to keep the funeral details private. “If you needed any advice, you could go to “I hope that his story just motivates folks, Michael about it.” even within their own communities, to just Thomas described Mayfield as an really take a stand on gun violence and conflict outspoken young man who brought an energy resolution,” said Calhoun, adding, “that’s what to everything he did. To his fellow JROTC he stood for, that’s what he was all about: how members, Mayfield was more general than can we handle this in a peaceful way?” soldier. Thomas would agree. Speaking about “Michael taught basically everybody, 100 Mayfield’s commitment to JROTC, band, and to 200 people, everything about leadership, mediation, Thomas said, “The best way to and drilling, and everything that had to do with honor him is to take his love and dedication Junior ROTC,” said Thomas. for those things and keep moving forward with According to Felicia Coffield, a social it.” worker and co-coordinator with Calhoun of Coffield has set up a website where the peer mediation program at Edmondsondonations can be made to assist Mayfield’s Westside, Mayfield was one of only three family with the high costs of a funeral no one students out of a class of over 200 that had ever anticipated. So far, a little over $3,700 has already completed all requirements for been raised toward the $10,000 goal. graduation. Anyone interested in making a donation “When he puts his mind to something he can do so at http://www.gofundme. AfroAmerican_2014_Layout 1 3/5/14 6:59 PM Page 1 does it and he does a great job,” said Coffield. com/8g9ynk.
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