D.C. voting rights bill pending in Congress is unconstitutional

Attorney General Eric Holder has ignored his own Justice Department attorneys when they determined the D.C. voting rights bill pending in Congress is unconstitutional. He shopped around and got an opinion form the Solicitor Generals office that they could defend the bill. The Bluegrass Pundit advises Attorney General Eric Holder to always believe your attorneys when they are delivering bad news. There would not be any possible gain for them to lie to you under those circumstances. Ironically, this is the same conclusion reached by the Bush Administration.

A Split At Justice On D.C. Vote Bill
Holder Overrode Ruling That Measure Is Unconstitutional

By Carrie Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 1, 2009; A01

Justice Department lawyers concluded in an unpublished opinion earlier this year that the historic D.C. voting rights bill pending in Congress is unconstitutional, according to sources briefed on the issue. But Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., who supports the measure, ordered up a second opinion from other lawyers in his department and determined that the legislation would pass muster.

In deciding that the measure is unconstitutional, lawyers in the department's Office of Legal Counsel matched a conclusion reached by their Bush administration counterparts nearly two years ago, when a lawyer there testified that a similar bill would not withstand legal attack.

Holder rejected the advice and sought the opinion of the solicitor general's office, where lawyers told him that they could defend the legislation if it were challenged after its enactment. (excerpt) read more at washingtonpost.com