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The Supreme Court has struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act. The act empowered the Justice Department with a veto (pre-clearance) over changes to voting laws in a handful of states and some localities with a history of discrimination in voting. This act was most recently renewed by Congress and signed into law by George W. Bush in 2006:

…every single Senate Republican and the vast majority of House Republicans voted for it. But today SCOTUS asked Congress to take another crack at regulations that would backstop states or counties if they passed laws that discriminated against the voting rights of any racial group.

So…that’s one thing. Superficially, it seems there is wide support in Congress to put into place some type of enforcement power in the Voting Rights Act. In theory, it should be easy for this Congress—even with a powerful obstructionist agenda motivating Republicans—to pass a new version of the law. But “theory” cannot really be trusted with the current crop of right wing Congressional nut jobbers. But…if they did rewrite the law, they could well improve it.

How can it be improved? Besides “updating” the outdated formula specified in Section 4, they could broaden the law to all states. Over the last decade, we have seen an alarming increase in state laws that disproportionately disenfranchise minorities, the poor, and non-native English speakers. Remember Karl Rove? The man was either delusionally paranoid or politically cunning in pushing the meme (with a big assist from intellectual fraudsters Hans von Spakovsky and John Fund) of widespread “voter fraud!” In reality, voter fraud is extremely rare, rarely organized, and in the rare instances it is organized, it’s usually committed by Republicans. (Okay…I made up the last “fact”…in reality, we cannot know because the sample sizes are tiny).

The result of Rove’s “fraudulent” fantasies is that Republican groups developed “model laws” that, if enacted, would disenfranchise minorities disproportionately. These model laws have been introduced in a number of non-Voting Rights Act states controlled by Republicans. Essentially, we are in a new era where many states not covered by the Voting Rights Act are at risk of disenfranchising minority voters—state like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. The solution is for Congress to put some teeth into the 15th amendment and pass a Voting Rights Act that covers all states equally and significantly broadens protections for disadvantaged persons.

Yeah…whatever…that’s all pie-in-the-sky. Within hours of the SCOTUS decision several states have indicated they would go forward with their blocked or stalled voter ID laws. This does not mean they”ll succeed—after all, the 15th amendment is pretty fucking clear! But it means the Justice Department must now sue states to get the laws blocked. That process takes substantially more effort, so it is an imperfect solution.

In the long run, this court decision may well hurt Republicans. By further disenfranchising minorities, Republicans will fail at “winning the hearts and minds” and VOTES of minority and disadvantaged voters. It is a medium-term demographic disaster for Republicans. Related to that, Joshua Green points out:

Many of the GOP’s current problems stem from the fact that it is overly beholden to its white, Southern base at a time when the country is rapidly becoming more racially diverse. In order to expand its base of power beyond the House of Representatives, the GOP needs to expand its appeal to minority voters. As the ongoing battle over immigration reform demonstrates, that process is going poorly and looks like it will be very difficult.

The Supreme Court’s decision to strike down a central provision of the Voting Rights Act will […] intensify the Southern captivity of the GOP, thereby making it harder for Republicans to broaden their appeal and win back the White House.

That is…we have years of “Republican amateur hours” to look forward to in the House.

The final implications I want to discuss are the Constitutional ones. A reading of the ruling turns up very few specifics on why the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional:

…[I]n Shelby, five conservative justices gutted the Voting Rights Act anyway, deeming it inconsistent with Constitution because, well, they said so. These jurists said the same law used to be perfectly constitutional, but somehow morphed into being unconstitutional without anyone noticing, and without violating anything specific in the Constitution itself.

That leads to the question, “When did it become unconstitutional to subject states to pre-clearance??

Oh wait…That was Scalia’s question about same-sex marriage…

If time can morph things from constitutional to unconstitutional because “things change” couldn’t today’s ruling have implications for, say, the first amendment. I mean, they didn’t have the intertubes, high speed laser printers, Twitter, wireless phones, or even electronically-enhanced megaphones when the First Amendment was ratified. “Free speech” was more akin to a lowly musket compared to the GG-95 PDW that is today’s high powered speech technology.

Hmm. Speaking of muskets and modern personal defense weapons…shouldn’t this ruling provide “ammunition” (doh!) for those who argue that the rights conveyed in the second amendment no longer apply because of technological change in weapons technology?

Holy shit…I think the conservative Justices have given us a living Constitution! Fucking judicial activists!

– If we put a fund together, I bet we could get enough to change the Tacoma Dome to the “HorsesAss.Org Awesomedome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

– Police are warning about a woman posing as a DSHS employee to steal money from very vulnerable victims, and detectives believe there could be many more targets who have not yet come forward, possibly because of the language barrier between themselves and police.

– 8 Ways Not To Be An “Ally”: A Non-Comprehensive List (h/t to my friend M on Facebook)

– I don’t know what else to say. I’m not surprised, because I am a white person who has been a white person her whole life (!) and thus I have spent a lifetime interacting with other white people who presumed that, because we are both white, we are both fans of racist humor. Or cool with racial slurs. Or will definitely agree about their solid and totally original theories on some ancient racist narrative.

– I was just talking to someone from West Seattle about cycling on the Spokane Street Bridge, and now there’s a counter.

– Please — that’s only 45 words. That’s not even a blog post — it’s almost a Tweet. Clearly trivial.

– Fun Facts are my favorite Tom the Dancing Bug, and Fun Facts About New York City is my favorite in a while.

Please join us this evening for, yet, another “special session” of the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally.

We meet every Tuesday evening at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E. Starting time is 8:00pm. Some people show up earlier than that for Dinner.

Can’t make it to Seattle tonight? Check out plethora of other DL meetings over the next week. Tonight there are also meetings of the Tri-Cities and Vancouver, WA chapters. On Wednesday, the Bellingham chapter meets.
On Friday, Washington’s newest chapter, the Centralia chapter of Drinking Liberally, meets. Finally, next Monday, the Yakima chapters meet.

With 205 chapters of Living Liberally, including seventeen in Washington state, four in Oregon, and two more in Idaho, chances are excellent there’s a chapter meeting near you.

– Well that special session totally, totally had a point.

– We have very little privacy unless we live completely off the grid. So how do we protect it?

– The Morning After Pill is available to all ages.

– Big corporations collect a vast amount of data about us. And then they ignore it and give us ads like these instead.

– Well, if the British are on board with our spying, then I guess…nope, still ought to be dialed back.

– A look at Seattle’s terrifyingly normal streets

– Hillary Clinton is on Twitter.

It’s not fair to say Rodney Tom doesn’t have a budget. He totally does. You just can’t see it. It’s, um, in Canada. But it’s totally real.

The Senate Majority Coalition Caucus called a 6-minute press conference on Thursday to say that they’ve made a counter-offer to the House on the budget. But they released no details about what’s in that offer.

[…]

Senate Majority Leader Rodney Tom said the Senate made a “comprehensive offer” back to the House on Thursday morning, but would not say what that offer entailed.

Look you guys, I don’t want to use this press conference about my budget to bring the media into the budget process. But my budget proposal is real. It’s real. It’s just so awesome that if you saw it you’d be sad that it wasn’t your budget, so I can’t show it to you.

That press conference was so bizarre that even Josh Feit, who usually bends over backwards to give the conservative side, was flabbergasted.

Tom’s response to the proposal was breif and bizarre.

Asked about the Democratic proposal today, Tom said it wouldn’t meet the “dependable funding” requirement of the McCleary decision because the money from closing tax loopholes was going to the public for a vote. “This isn’t the old Soviet Union where you can guarantee an election,” he said.

However, the Democrats’ proposal to close $255.6 million in seven tax loopholes is not attached to a public vote. Sponsor Carlyle says: “There is no referendum clause. There never has been. Absolutely not. Unequivocally. Emphatically. Period. End of sentence. Have a nice day.”

In Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa We’re Doomed news there are radioactive birds at Hanford (Tri-City Herald, I think they have a limited number of clicks):

Work stopped Wednesday morning at parts of the Hanford vitrification plant after radioactive contamination was detected under a bird’s nest, according to Bechtel National.

I know where this leads: Soon they’ll bite people and then those people will have super powers. Like shitting on people from 100 feet up. I’m already terrified. The only question now is if they use their super powers for good or evil. Probably evil because how you could possibly use that power for good?

Or maybe I’m exaggerating just a bit.

The contamination is suspected of coming from mud used for the nest, which may have belonged to a swallow, said Bechtel spokesman Todd Nelson. Only a small amount of contaminated soil was found, and the contamination was at a low level.

– A progress report on the ex-offender hiring bill in Seattle.

– On the other hand, the fact that Obama didn’t hesitate to announce his appointment of Rice on the day after he defied Republican obstructionists with his three judicial nominees is a good sign.

– While here in Washington we’ll have to get even modest background checks on the ballot, Oregon may get a measure passed through their legislature.

– The Power of Choice Awards are coming up.

– The way I see it, if you can’t look the people in the eye and listen to them then you don’t belong in public office.

– The 2013 Seattle Bicycle Master Plan is out now. There will be time for public comment, and then after it’s finalized, politicians can ignore it.

– Like Paprocki, Mohler refuses to imagine any possible view of “moral truth” other than his own. Anyone who makes a moral argument challenging his own moral assertions, he claims, must be attacking morality itself.

The State House has just put forth a new budget plan (S/R link, I think they have a limit, but I’ve never hit it).

House Democrats offered to trim back spending and drop many proposals on taxes as part of a compromise they say would allow the Legislature to pass a 2013-15 operating budget before time runs out in the special session.

The $33.6 billion plan for the next biennium spends an extra $700 million on public schools in an attempt to meet a state Supreme Court mandate, although less than their leaders proposed at the beginning of the year.

It closes fewer tax exemptions and preferences and would not extend a business and occupation tax surcharge or higher taxes on beer that are scheduled to expire at the end of the month. A separate proposal would close or reduce seven tax exemptions, raising an estimated $256 million. That money would be dedicated to specific programs in public schools or colleges if they pass as separate legislation.

Well, I mean sure. It’s pretty shitty, but maybe at least now there can be a compromise. I guess a bad budget is better than no budget. I don’t want to give the impression I’m happy that the Democrats blinked, but they have to pass a budget that people like Rodney Tom’s Republicans Republicans can support.

But the coalition of 23 Republicans and two Democrats that holds the 25-24 majority in the Senate, was less enthusiastic.

“I’m disappointed that this House budget proposal is balanced on the backs of Washington’s school children,” Sen. Rodney Tom, D-Medina, the majority leader, said in a prepared statement. The coalition “will not let political expediency get in the way of fulfilling our obligation to provide for our schools.”

Seriously, fuck you Rodney Tom. If you’re concerned about the obligation to provide for schools, how about raise taxes? But Rodney Tom is bitter asshole, a man so consumed with keeping his ill-gotten power that he would almost certainly kick kittens and then blame Democrats for not stopping him. Maybe other Republicans will be better. I’ll just go over to the House Republican Caucus page and see what they’re doing. Surely they’ll be more reasona…nevermind.

“I am also concerned about the process they decided to use – going through the media via a press conference and using two separate bills. To me, this looks like a step back from the negotiating table. Negotiating through the media by staging press conferences by the governor and House Democrats doesn’t bring the two chambers together.

I know, because all the indications were that the budget negotiations were going soooooooo smooooooothly before this. That’s why there’s a special session and it’s also why there have been warnings that we might go over a cliff. Because the process was working too well before people actually put their ideas forward for the public. Christ.

Dylan Matthews has a graph-filled post at Wonkblog digging into the data behind the just-released report on the racial disparity in marijuana law enforcement.

When I first saw this on Twitter yesterday, I was certain that the disparity figures reported by the ACLU marked a decrease from previous years, but they’re mostly unchanged over the past decade. Historically, the disparity for all drugs is even higher, particularly because of crack-cocaine enforcement.

I’ve been thrilled to see sharp, wonky folks like Matthews dive into this subject more and more since marijuana was made legal here and in Colorado (and here’s another post from Talking Points Memo, which has begun covering this topic with more frequency as well). But I think Matthews undersells the seriousness of the problem when he writes this:

How important is this? Well, while making up a quite small share of our prison population, marijuana possession charges make up nearly half of total drug arrests:

Obviously, being arrested without going to jail is a lot better than getting arrested and going to jail. But it’s still a major nuisance, leading to fines, long hours of community service and thousands of dollars in legal fees.

The downsides of having a marijuana arrest are often far worse than just fines and legal fees. Many of those arrested end up taking pleas in order to avoid jail. Part of that deal is that you plead guilty to a felony charge in order to avoid that jail term. And that felony charge goes on your record and follows you around for the rest of your life. For a young black man, often with little financial resources to get ahead in the first place, this makes it just about impossible to further their education or find employment. They become doomed to what has been appropriately described as the “new Jim Crow”, a second-class status that keeps them outside of the walls of opportunity for life.

The 4 to 1 disparity discussed by the ACLU doesn’t even take into account what happens after these arrests. Those with the resources to fight back can often get their charges reduced or thrown out. Those without them end up being told to plea guilty by an overworked public defender. To see the kind of impact this is happening in our major cities, just take a look at this chart within Matthews’ post:

For so many of the urban areas listed there, these arrests are portrayed as a public safety need. But they’re exactly the opposite. When you have an urban area that has problems with gangs – which thrive from the policies of prohibition in the first place – all this does is give those gangs more young people to recruit, young people that might have other avenues if they didn’t have a felony on their record holding them back. It’s not a coincidence that Chicago’s astronomical arrest figures for at-risk youth go hand-in-hand with its astronomical homicide figures. It’s what you should expect to happen when you do this.

Last month, as part of the celebration of HA‘s 9th anniversary, Darryl walked us through Nine years of HA trolls. It was quite the stroll down memory (some might mispronounce it marummy) lane.

Coming in as #5 on Darryl’s troll hit parade was the priggishly self-righteous Piper Scott, aka Scott St. Clair, an “investigative journalist” once (still?) employed by the odious Evergreen Freedom Foundation. His self-important droppings have been seen in many Washington state online venues, from Crosscut to some minor blog called unSound Politics (or something like that).

Some have suggested that blog commenters like St. Clair — right-wingers whose primary purpose appears to be incessantly inflammatory and/or derogatory on liberal or progressive blogs — are somehow paid to interfere with civilized discourse. I’ve seen that supposition confirmed only once, in the case of Kevin Carns, professional troll, one-time Political Director for Washington’s House Republican Organizing Committee and Executive Director of The Speaker’s Roundtable (the WHROC’s PAC). He haunted HA in its early years.

The evidence regarding St. Clair’s status as a professional troll may have been strengthened by something I chanced upon today. I was looking at some of the numerous testimonials and remembrances of the recently-departed Senator from New Jersey, Frank Lautenberg. I grew up in the Garden State, so big events there always interest me. I first registered to vote in New Jersey, and my first Federal election ballot in 1972 included the very same Class 2 Senate seat held until this week by Lautenberg. (I voted proudly and happily for Clifford P. Case, the incumbent Republican Senator … one of only two GOP votes I’ve ever cast.)

In reviewing the obituaries, I chanced upon one in NorthJersey.com, the website of the Bergen Record. The Record is a daily publication in Bergen County, located in the upper-right corner of the state, directly across the Hudson River from Manhattan. With the innumerable major media outlets right across the river, it’s really a minor part of the press presence in New Jersey, perhaps a step or two above a community newspaper. So imagine my surprise when I glanced at the comment threads and saw this [click on the image to enlarge it]:

Why in the world would a guy from Washington write a lengthy (and derogatory) comment on the website of a minor newspaper in New Jersey? Why would he have “Top Commenter” status there? Why would he have 114 subscribers to his comments on that website, a continent away from his home?

Across the nation, there must be hundreds and hundreds of media websites on a par with NorthJersey.com. How many of those list The Piper as a heavily-subscribed Top Commenter? If he isn’t being paid to troll obscure websites all around the country, what possible reason could he have for being there?

I’m amused that the first two replies to St. Clair’s comment list their locations as “Everett, Washington” and “Everett CC”. Not only does The Piper ride teh intertubes clear across the country, he brings a couple of fanboys with him!

If there are paid wingnut commenters, I suppose that some liberal/progressive blog commenters must also exist. There can’t be as many lefties as righties, though. Just about every newpaper, television, and radio website is populated overwhelmingly by conservatives, libertarians, and worse. I used to think that most of those were local crazies venting their spleen, but perhaps I was wrong.

1) Now that I-502 has passed, what will the purchase of marijuana look like within city limits? Will medical marijuana collective garden storefronts in Seattle have to abide by the 1000-foot rule established by I-502?

Since the medical marijuana dispensaries have served and do serve as suppliers for the recreational users as well – especially underage ones – my perception is that we have too many of them and it’s good that they have gotten notices to move further away with the 1000 foot rule. That said, I don’t think banishing marijuana storefronts makes any sense or sends a good message. We probably should have saved the old state liquor stores and used them for outlets. I attached the speech I made at the Cannabis Freedom March for some background on my thoughts. [a copy is here – Carl]

2) With Metro’s ability to fund itself at the whim of the legislature, what should the city’s role be in public transportation? As mayor, how will you both make sure we get our fair share, and that the system serves the entire region well?

My suggestion for METRO funding is called ORCA Tabs. Here’s a post I made recently called METRO Rx. http://katemartinformayor.com/2013/05/14/metro-rx/

3) What should the waterfront look like after the Viaduct comes down? Will there be a streetcar or other transit?

I think the upper deck of the viaduct should be preserved as an open space. Here’s a post I made recently called The Viaduct Park. http://katemartinformayor.com/2013/05/09/the-viaduct-park/

4) What should happen in the next 4 years to make sure that police reform both satisfies the Feds, and works for Seattle citizens?

Here’s a post from earlier in the campaign – pre Diaz retirement. http://katemartinformayor.com/2013/01/30/seattle-police-department-path/

Here’s some current commentary on that…

I sincerely hope that the selection process holds off until after the election. I believe the new chief should know who their boss will be for the next 4 years (at least).

When we do open up the search, we need a chief who I describe as a dichotomy. The person must be strong and able to command the respect of the force in an organization with a military-style hierarchy. Previously, although former Chief Diaz was on paper the chief, he didn’t exactly function like the chief. Command staff below him and union leadership seemed to dominate.

In addition to being able to actually function as a respected chief, the chief must lead by example and must be a woman or man with compassion for humanity and agility with a variety of tools beyond just force. The problem of excessive force and racism is an epidemic across our nation’s police forces, so a new tradition must be instilled. That is not something you can make people do and it’s nothing they can fake. They must have the aptitude and the proper professional development and leadership for it to happen.

Additionally, I think that the police force must be rested and healthy. With the $16.8M worth of overtime last year at SPD, I think we have to take a serious look at the relationship between overworking our force and the performance standards we desire, in addition to the budget implications of such practices.

I’d also like to see more neighborhood-based hiring to connect communities to the police forces in a social, neighborly way.

And finally, I understand that there have been inadequate levels of professional development. For all of our City workers, we must invest in their professional development. For the police, for instance, I understand that it has been 8 years since training for domestic violence. That is unacceptable and that’s not the only area lacking in professional development.

5) When there are police incidents, the response from the top is important. With hindsight, in the wake of John T. Williams being killed by a Seattle police officer what, if anything, should the mayor’s office have done differently what, if anything, did it do right?

We need a police force we can trust. I don’t think we’re any closer to having that than we were 2 years ago.

I believe the right response is to trace the incident back to a systemic problem and then fix that problem. I think that professional development of the force has been neglected. There are so many new officers and so little training. The force needs more tools to defuse situations – especially in cases with mental illness and addiction involved. It was just a couple of months ago when a father called 911 up near Carkeek Park because his mentally ill son was acting out. I am certain that the outcome that father was looking for was not the death of his son, but that’s what happened when 10 cars responded to the incident and a guy with no gun or knife was shot dead. Authentic, effective professional development must be stepped up so that every officer has the tools they need to successfully manage the tremendous variety of situations they encounter every day.

– The pride flag will fly above Seattle City Hall.

– So let me be very clear: If you claim to be “pro-life” and yet you don’t support this bill, I have to conclude you are, at best, a sanctimonious hypocrite and not someone whose proclamations on “morality” are deserving of any attention or respect.

– Lindy West continues to be pretty awesome.

– RIP Frank Lautenberg

– I don’t know why anyone would have lutefisk as part of a diet. In my family, it’s mostly just an excuse to have cream sauce.

1 Samuel 18:25-27
“Say to David, ‘The king wants no other price for the bride than a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revenge on his enemies.’” Saul’s plan was to have David fall by the hands of the Philistines.

When the attendants told David these things, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. So before the allotted time elapsed, David took his men with him and went out and killed two hundred Philistines and brought back their foreskins. They counted out the full number to the king so that David might become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal in marriage.

Discuss.

I didn’t realize that this is happening next month (h/t, h/t), but it’s rather great that it is.

The Trans*Pride march will include community members that identify as Trans* in some way such as folks who identify as Transgender, Transsexual, Gender Queer, Gender Non-Conforming, Trans Men, Trans Women, Drag Queens and Kings, Cross Dressers, and our Friends, Families, Co-Workers, and other Allies. The purpose of the march and rally is to raise awareness and support for the Trans* community and to elevate the challenges faced by Trans* and Gender Non-Conforming people in Seattle and more broadly in Washington State, the United States, and Internationally.

We are very excited about the speakers that will be participating in this event, who will be addressing issues of gender identity and expression and how they intersect with sexual orientation, race, poverty and class issues, ability, and the many other intersections of identity we all have. The speakers will be announced soon. If you are interested in speaking or suggesting a speaker, please check our performers page.

I’m glad that Seattle is accommodating enough that the Department of Neighborhoods is a sponsor. It’s Friday, June 28, and if you’re interested in checking it out, here’s the schedule:

5:00pm – 6:00pm – Assemble in Front of Seattle Central Community College
6:00pm – 7:00pm – March to Cal Anderson Park
7:00pm – 7:30pm – Welcome & Speeches
7:30pm – 8:00pm – Music by: Rae Spoon
8:00pm – 8:30am – Seattle Trans* Organizations Highlights
8:30pm – 9:00pm – Keynote Speech: Julia Serano
9:00pm – 9:30pm – More of Seattle’s amazing Trans* Community Organizations
9:30 – 10:00pm – Comedy by: Ian Harvie
10:00pm – Thank you and Good night!
10:30pm – Trans Pride Official After Party!!

They’re also raising money here if you’re interested in supporting it monetarily.

It has been rolling across the country for a while, and today the fast food worker’s strike has landed in Seattle.

Taco Bell was closed, along with a number of other fast food restaurants around the city as workers walked of the job in a rolling strike that is continuing today.

The strike, organized by Good Jobs Seattle, is demanding higher wages for fast food workers. The Lake City Burger King and a Subway on Capitol Hill also closed temporarily for lack of employees, and picketers have targeted Qdoba, Chipotle and Taco Del Mar as well

“They’re done with having poverty wages,” said Reagan Jackson of UFCW 21, who joined the picket lines outside the Georgetown Arby’s earlier today. “They’re requesting that they have a new living wage of $15 [an hour]”

Good for them. As someone who eats at several of those places, I’ll just say that I’d gladly pay a bit more for the food if the workers were paid a living wage. And I would eat even better knowing that it came out of CEO’s pay.