LEGAL SPEAKS BLOG

Republican influenced photo voter ID laws enacted in fourteen states now make it harder to vote than to get through security screening at airports. Voter ID laws in over half the states, require voters to present some form of identification but fourteen states require a government issued photo ID.  Voters in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin must present the exact photo ID prescribed by the state or be precluded from having their vote count.  Six other states requiring photo ID’s allow some flexibility in the type of photo ID, but still require a photo ID. The GOP insists that the photo voter ID laws are necessary to protect against alleged voter fraud.

A comparison of these strict state photo voter ID laws to the Transportation Security Administration’s (“TSA” ) requirements to fly show it is harder to vote than it is to fly. Republican proponents of strict photo voter ID laws argue that the same documents are needed to fly.  Everyone does not fly. And TSA is more flexible in its approach to security screening.   The Transportation Security Administration (“TSA”)   web site states that where the requested photo government documents are not available, there are other ways to verify the identity of the traveler and TSA will allow airport travelers to fly where the required documents are missing.  A traveler can pass through security and fly if they do not own a driver’s license, state photo ID or passport. According to TSA, “Not having a {photo} ID, does not necessarily mean a passenger won’t be allowed to fly. If passengers are willing to provide additional information, we have other means of substantiating someone’s identity, like using publicly available databases.” Air travelers may also use 2 non-photo ID forms of ID such as a social security card or credit card, as long as verifiable.  The new strict photo voter ID laws do not make any exceptions. TSA, in protecting us against terrorist attacks, is more flexible in their policy than these photo voter ID laws.

In Indiana in 2006, a black woman, Valeria Williams, in her 60s, was told that her telephone bill, letter from the Social Security Administration addressed to her and an expired driver’s license were not sufficient identification to vote.  Under the current TSA policy, she probably would have been allowed to fly. Her vote didn’t count.

The Brennan Center estimates that 18 percent of all seniors and 25 percent of African-Americans don’t have picture IDs.  Estimates are that it could cost up to $35 to obtain the necessary documents when not in the possession of the voter plus time off from work to obtain during working hours. And with many people struggling due to the economy, where many sometimes don’t have enough money to buy food and put and keep a roof over their head, it’s unlikely they will have an extra money to pay to vote.

Although the government issued photo ID needed to vote is free, the certified birth certificate or passport  needed to obtain one, if unavailable, costs money. And there is additional cost to obtain even more documents, in those cases where a name change is involved due to marriage or divorce, as in the case of roughly 90 percent of marriages. One thing is clear—there is an extra cost to vote where strict voter photo ID laws are imposed. It’s like having to pay extra for baggage when flying. And voting should be free and easy to do.

And for all the alleged voter fraud by the GOP, the Justice Department’s nationwide study from 2002 – 2005 found only 5 convictions for voting multiple times and 86 convictions for improper voting. This hardly seems a reason to require extra costs and make it more difficulty to vote than to fly.

Yet, in the case of strict photo ID laws, it’s

Debbie Hines is a lawyer, former prosecutor and legal /political commentator appearing in national and local media including CNN, the Michael Eric Dyson Show, XM Sirius radio, NBC , ABC and CBS -Washington, DC affiliates,  NPR, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, Black Enterprise among others.  She founded LegalSpeaks, a progressive blog on women and race in law and politics.  She also writes for the Huffington Post.

harder to vote these days than it is to fly.

Mitt Romney is winning Republican primaries but many Republicans still wonder if Mitt Romney is human. Democrats don’t want Mitt Romney to be president and neither do many conservative Republicans who think Mitt Romney is not human. I don’t mean to imply that Mitt is an alien. But, he doesn’t have the common touch for many of his fellow Republicans. And trying to find it is making him appear even less human.  Being human shows there is a human side to your back story. President Obama spoke about being raised by a single mother; having a grandfather who fought in World War II, having a mother die of cancer without health insurance and being a compassionate community organizer upon graduating from law school.What is Mitt Romney’s human story?

Mitt Romney has a back story except it is not appealing to his constituency. So he changes his story to fit his base.  Romney, a Mormon was a missionary during his early years. Being a missionary, I assume means he helped some poor folks.  Yet, that would not be appealing to his Republican base. So what does Romney do?  He comes out saying that he’s not concerned about the very poor.   A missionary works with the poor.  They are not usually working with the middle class or helping the rich get richer. So when Romney changes his own story to fit that of someone else, he comes off sounding and acting like an alien.And he sounds like a rich alien who hates the “very poor”.

Romney’s father was also born in a Mexican colony and later moved to the US.  If he emphasizes his father’s birth background, it will raise questions as to whether he is American, among his GOP conservative base. The same GOP base that is asking for President Obama’s birth certificate will want to secretly see Mitt Romney’s birth certificate.

Most Mormons overwhelmingly support Mitt Romney—just as an overwhelming number of African Americans support President Obama. Some Evangelical Christians still view Mormons as a cult and have openly spoken against Mormonism. Just as Republicans questioned and still question whether President Obama is Muslim or Christian, the same Republicans privately ask if Mitt Romney is a Christian. Being Muslim, Christian or Mormon –which is Christian should not matter. All faiths and religions are acceptable to hold the office of President, except in the eyes of the conservative right wing Republicans.  So, for Mitt Romney, being human means being a Christian which many Republicans question about Mitt Romney’s religion.

Having the same wife of 43 years also doesn’t seem to be helping to make him appear human.  Newt Gingrich turned his adulterous affairs and three wives to his own advantage and human traits. It’s as if these traits are a badge of bad boy honor and humanism for Republicans.

Romney was the first US governor to sign into law a universal health care law when he was Massachusetts governor.  This fact makes him human among Democrats except they are not likely to vote for him.  It makes him seem alien to Republicans that are trying to overturn the Affordable Health Care Act.

And Romney is trying to appease his conservative Republican base, including the likes of Rush Limbaugh and show that he is human by their standards. The only problem is by the conservative Republican base, Mitt Romney is not human. He’s a wealthy alien, valued at $250 million who cannot connect to his own GOP  base or the American public. Mitt Romney thinks he  is  human—just  like corporations he thinks are people.

Debbie Hines is a lawyer, former prosecutor and legal /political commentator appearing in national and local media including CNN, the Michael Eric Dyson Show, XM Sirius radio, NBC , ABC and CBS -Washington, DC affiliates,  NPR, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, Black Enterprise among others.  She founded LegalSpeaks, a progressive blog on women and race in law and politics.  She also writes for the Huffington Post.

Cecile Richards, Pres. Planned Parenthood

The Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure entered the field of politics with its recent decision to deny future grants to Planned Parenthood of America. Within a day of Mitt Romney saying that he’s not interested in helping the poor, apparently the Komen Foundation has come to the same decision.

Komen has reached irreconcilable differences with its supporters’ pro-life stance and Planned Parenthood’s abortion services.  Planned Parenthood provides 750,000 breast cancer exams a year. Susan G. Komen’s grants have made it possible to provide 170,000 breast cancer exams and 6,000 mammogram referrals over the past 5 years.  And 97% of Planned Parenthood’s   services for the poor are not related to abortion services but to education, screening and prevention.

Komen says it’s not a political decision. That’s like someone ending a romantic relationship and saying it’s not about you. Finding a cure for breast cancer should not be about politics, political party or position on abortion. Yet, somehow politics have now jumped in with both feet in the race for the cure. Cancer doesn’t care about political party, race, class or gender. And neither should Susan G. Komen.  Cancer is an equal opportunity killer.  Breast cancer still strikes one in 8 American women today.

Attempting to stop vulnerable and poor women from getting cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood may win favor with Mitt Romney and the political right, but it will risk lives instead of saving them.  I always thought the Susan G. Komen Foundation was about saving lives with a cure. I wonder when a cure is found, whether Komen will try to stop women receiving services at Planned Parenthood from receiving the cure.

Breast cancer screenings save lives. And until a cure is found, we should want every woman to get screened for breast cancer.  If the Komen Foundation for the Cure wants to remain true to its number 1 priority of finding a cure for breast cancer, it will drop politics out of the cure.

Post Script: In a reversal of fortune, Susan G. Komen Foundation for the Cure decides to end its decision to defund Planned Parenthood. The power of the media is huge in this decision.

Debbie Hines is a lawyer, former prosecutor and legal /political commentator appearing in national and local media including CNN, the Michael Eric Dyson Show, XM Sirius radio, NBC , ABC and CBS -Washington, DC affiliates,  NPR, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, Black Enterprise among others.  She founded LegalSpeaks, a progressive blog on women and race in law and politics.  She also writes for the Huffington Post.

As we remember Black Suffrage day on February 3, the day in 1870 when black men were granted voting rights with women following later in 1920, a move is now affront to take back those rights with new voter ID laws. Although, blacks were granted suffrage, it took almost another 100 years before blacks living in the south were able to exercise their rights without disenfranchisement.  Blacks were systematically denied the right to vote in many southern states, due to poll tax laws. Poll tax laws requiring black voters to pay a tax to vote remained on the books until January, 1966. Today there is a Republican led move to revive them in the form of a modern day poll tax known as the new voter ID laws.

In 2012, it is estimated that many blacks could again be denied the right to vote by having to pay money to vote—this time due to many new voter ID laws. Voter ID laws enacted now in over half the states, require voters to present some form of identification and fourteen states require a government issued photo ID.  The Brennan Center estimates that 18 percent of all seniors and 25 percent of African-Americans don’t have picture IDs.

Forty-five years ago, Alabama, Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi still had poll tax laws.  Eight states including Georgia   and South Carolina refused to ratify the 24^th amendment which abolished poll tax or any other tax to vote. Today states supporting former poll tax laws-Alabama, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina and four other states have some of the strictest photo voter ID laws in the country.

There is an uncanny pattern and parallel with the new voter ID laws and the former poll tax laws. Just like the poll tax laws, there is a cost to vote where voter ID laws are strictly imposed.  Although the government issued   ID needed to vote is free, the certified birth certificate or passport needed to obtain one costs money. And there is additional cost to obtain even more documents, in those cases where a name change is involved due to marriage or divorce.

Estimates are that it could cost up to $35 to obtain the necessary documents when not in the possession of the voter plus time off from work to obtain during working hours. And with many people struggling due to the economy, where voters don’t have enough money to buy food and put and keep a roof over their head, it’s unlikely they will have an extra $35 to get government documents to vote.

Although, Republican proponents of strict voter ID laws argue that these same documents are needed to fly, drive or cash a check.  That’s not really true and not everyone flies or drives.  The Transportation Security Administration (“TSA”)   web site states that where those government documents are not available, there are other ways to verify the identity of the traveler and TSA will allow airport travelers to fly where the required documents are missing.  “Not having a {photo} ID, does not necessarily mean a passenger won’t be allowed to fly. If passengers are willing to provide additional information, we have other means of substantiating someone’s identity, like using publicly available databases.” Air travelers may also use 2 non-photo ID forms of ID such as a social security card or credit card, as long as verifiable. The TSA, in protecting us against terrorist attacks is more flexible in their policy than these photo voter ID laws.

In Indiana in 2006, a black woman, Valeria Williams, in her 60s, was told that her telephone bill, letter from the Social Security Administration addressed to her and an expired driver’s license  were not sufficient.  Under the current TSA   policy, she probably would have been allowed to fly. Under most bank check cashing policies, she also would have been able to cash a check. Her vote didn’t count.

And for all the alleged voter fraud by the GOP, the Justice Department’s nationwide study from 2002 – 2005 found 5 convictions for voting multiple times and 86 convictions for improper voting. This hardly seems a reason to require costs for voting.

Just as forms of racism are more subtle in 2012 than in 1966, the same holds true for the new modern day poll tax. In the case of money required to obtain government documents to vote—well, a rose by any other name is still a rose. And a poll tax by any other name is …well still a poll tax.

Debbie Hines is a lawyer, former prosecutor and legal /political commentator appearing in national and local media including CNN, the Michael Eric Dyson Show, XM Sirius radio, NBC , ABC and CBS -Washington, DC affiliates,  NPR, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, Black Enterprise among others.  She founded LegalSpeaks, a progressive blog on gender and race in law and politics.  She also writes for the Huffington Post.