Trump's DOJ Will Drop Claim That Texas Voter ID Law Was Purposefully Discriminatory

WASHINGTON Reversing a position the Justice Department has maintained for years, the Trump administrations Civil Rights Division will state in federal court this week that the federal government no longer claims Texas legislators acted with discriminatory intent in 2011 when they passed one of the strictest voter ID laws in the nation.

The Justice Department will still take the position that the Texas voter ID law has a discriminatory impact on black and Latino voters, according to a source familiar with their decision. Its unclear at this point whether DOJ will take the position that Texas legislatures acted without discriminatory intent, or if they simply will remain neutral on the question, but a filing is expected by the end of the day.

AG Sessions working to turn the clock back. #DOJ abandoning its position that #Texas #VoterID law was adopted with discriminatory purpose.

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AG Sessions working to turn the clock back. #DOJ abandoning its position that #Texas #VoterID law was adopted with discriminatory purpose.
Kristen Clarke (@KristenClarkeJD) February 27, 2017

BREAKING NEWS! Sessions' DOJ is abandoning its 6-year old claims that TX Photo ID law was enacted w/discriminatory intent. We will fight on!

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BREAKING NEWS! Sessions' DOJ is abandoning its 6-year old claims that TX Photo ID law was enacted w/discriminatory intent. We will fight on!
Gerry Hebert (@GerryHebert) February 27, 2017

#Texas #voterID was discriminatory when it was passed, the appt of #sessions can't change that fact, @CampaignLegal & partners will fight on

Danielle Lang (@DaniLang_DC) February 27, 2017","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Danielle Lang","author_url":"https://twitter.com/DaniLang_DC","cache_age":86400,"description":"#Texas #voterID was discriminatory when it was passed, the appt of #sessions can't change that fact, @CampaignLegal & partners will fight on— Danielle Lang (@DaniLang_DC) February 27, 2017\n","provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Danielle Lang on 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#Texas #voterID was discriminatory when it was passed, the appt of #sessions can't change that fact, @CampaignLegal & partners will fight on
Danielle Lang (@DaniLang_DC) February 27, 2017

The DOJs new position is a disappointment to voting rights advocates, and evidently within the Civil Rights Division, where lawyers were worried about the future of the division under Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Federal court records indicated that John Gore, currently the No. 2 official in the Civil Rights Division, will represent the Justice Department in federal court on Tuesday.

Thats quite unusual: Gores position is typically managerial, and there are any number of career Civil Rights Division attorneys who normally would argue the case, including several line attorneys in the Voting Section who have been working on the Texas case for years. (The acting head of the Civil Rights Division in the Trump administration, Tom Wheeler, is recused from the Texas voter ID case because he offered Texas lawmakers advice on writing the law.) Before he joined Trumps Justice Department, Gore defended Republican redistricting plans from court challenges. Gore also helped file an amicus brief in support of Virginias voter ID law, though that states law was less restrictive than other voter ID laws and was upheld by another federal appeals court.