Pass the Voting Rights Bill

July 20, 2020 | by delsandy | Uncategorized | No Comments

The greatest tribute that could be paid to Congressman John Lewis:

Pass the Voting Rights bill.

H.R.4, the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019, passed the House of Representatives on December 6, 2019.

Why do we need this bill?

The Supreme Court gutted the enforcement provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which required states with a history of voting rights violations to get preclearance from the Department of Justice before adopting changes to their voting laws or practices.

In dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote, “Throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.”

The only action taken on H.R. 4 by the Senate has been to refer it to the Judiciary Committee.

Perhaps Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham will be moved by this statement from a colleague on the passing of Congressman Lewis.

I will never forget joining hands with John as members of Congress sang We Shall Overcome at a 2008 ceremony honoring his friend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It could not have been more humbling to consider what he had suffered and sacrificed so those words could be sung in that place.

Who offered those words?

Senator Mitch McConnell.

A few days after John Lewis almost lost his life on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, these words were spoken to a joint session of Congress by President Lyndon Johnson.

But even if we pass this bill, the battle will not be over. What happened in Selma is part of a far larger movement which reaches into every section and State of America. It is the effort of American Negroes to secure for themselves the full blessings of American life. Their cause must be our cause too. Because it’s not just Negroes, but really it’s all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice.

And we shall overcome.

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You can speak with City Council President Brandon Scott on our 41st District Town Hall tomorrow evening from 5:30-6:30. For details on this Zoom meeting, contact aswilliams@house.state.md.us.

From Selma to Annapolis

January 19, 2015 | by delsandy | Sandy's 2015 Legislative Diary | No Comments

In the opening scene of “Selma,” Oprah Winfrey’s character seeks to register to vote.

Asked to recite the preamble to the US Constitution, she knows it.

How many trial judges in Alabama? Without hesitation, the correct number.

Name them, says the clerk. Silence.

Application denied.

The end result of the civil disobedience and violence that follow is the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

That law gives the Attorney General of the United States the authority to go to court when there is reasonable grounds to believe that an election law violation is imminent.

My legislation to give that same power to the Attorney General of Maryland passed the House of Delegates in 2013, 91-45. Forty two of the “no” votes were cast by Republicans.

My desire to pass the bill has intensified after seeing “Selma.”

A not so “impressive” column by former Governor Ehrlich

July 15, 2013 | by delsandy | featured, Sandy's 2013 Legislative Diary | No Comments

I don’t always read former Governor Ehrlich’s weekly column in the Sun. I hardly ever listen to right-wing talk radio.

For the same reason: accuracy is not their objective.

However, I did read yesterday’s column.

Below is my letter to the editor in response.

Dear Editors:

Former Governor Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. is entitled to his belief that the Supreme Court did the right thing in striking at the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He is not entitled to misleadingly quote from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dissent.

“Even Judge Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s dissenting opinion cites the ‘impressive’ voting rights progress that has taken place in the impacted states [subject to pre-clearance of voting changes by the U.S. Justice Department],” writes the former governor.

This is what Justice Ginsburg wrote: “True, conditions in the South have impressively improved since passage of the Voting Rights Act. Congress noted this improvement and found that the VRA was the driving force behind it.”

The former governor owes an apology to the Justice and his readers.