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DOJ lawyers questioned constitutionality of DC voting rights bill: report

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] US Attorney General Eric Holder overruled Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyers who believe the District of Columbia Voting Rights Act of 2009 pending in Congress violates the Constitution, the Washington Post reported Wednesday. The proposed bill would give District of Columbia (DC) residents voting rights for the House of Representatives and give Utah an additional seat in the House. According to the report, Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) lawyers warned Holder, who supports the bill, that the legislation would violate language in the Constitution stating that the House shall be "composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several states." After OLC lawyers advised Holder of the bill's possible unconstituionality, Holder allegedly requested an opinion from the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG). Former OLC deputy M. Edward Whelan claims that by rejecting the advice of the OLC and turning to the OSG, Holder ignored sound legal advice in order to achieve the political goal of seeing the legislation passed. The report states that OSG lawyers told Holder they could defend the bill's constitutionality before the courts. The House previously approved a DC voting rights bill in 2007, although it was later rejected by the Senate. The Congressional Research Service found that bill was likely unconstitutional for the same reasons as the current bill is being questioned. DC Vote claims that DC residents have the constitutional right to vote for representation in the house on a number of grounds.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on April 01, 2009 (boomark / email).