Justice Department Cleared of Anti-White Bias?

By Charles S. Clark

Since the aftermath of the 2008 election, conservatives have charged that the Obama Justice Department turns a blind eye to racism against whites. They cite the department's dismissal of most parts in a complaint brought by the Bush Justice Department in January 2009 charging voter intimidation at a Philadelphia polling station by members of the New Black Panther party, two of whom were captured on video staring at incoming voters while wearing black berets and carrying batons.

This week, the counsel from Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility released results of an internal investigation that found no signs that race or politics entered into the decision not to pursue the charges of voter intimidation. Department attorneys "did not commit professional misconduct or exercise poor judgment, but rather acted appropriately," according to a copy of the report on the website of Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee.

The OPR conclusions were sent a week earlier to Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, whose staff declined comment. But it appears Smith is not ending his long pursuit of the issue. According to a statement he gave to NPR, "the inspector general is investigating whether the Civil Rights Division has used race as a litmus test for the enforcement of voting rights laws." The Judiciary Committee "will conduct a thorough review of the Civil Rights Division and the IG's findings when they are released."