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Category Archives: Race
Supplemental Reply Brief of Amici Curiae Todd Gaziano, Gail Heriot, and Peter Kirsanow, U.S. v. Cannon (5th Cir. 2013)
This reply brief discusses the applicability of Shelby County v. Holder to the U.S. v. Cannon case.
Download the full brief here: 13ASupplementalReplyFINAL(4)
Supplemental Brief of Amici Curiae Gail Heriot, Todd Gaziano, and Peter Kirsanow, U.S. v. Cannon (5th Cir. 2013)
In this brief, amici discuss the applicability of new case law — particularly Shelby County v. Holder — to the Thirteenth Amendment questions in U.S. v. Cannon.
Download the brief here: 13AShelbyCountyFinal
Letter to Congress Regarding Women and Minorities in STEM Booster Act
Download PDF: Letter Regarding STEM Booster Act
In September 2012, Commissioners Heriot, Kirsanow, and Gaziano wrote to Senators Harkin, Enzi, and Landrieu to express their opposition to the STEM Booster Act. The commissioners expressed their concern that the STEM Booster Act would encourage colleges and universities to engage in racial and gender preferences. Scholarly research has shown that these preferences often harm the intended beneficiaries, thus resulting in fewer STEM graduates. Thus, programs like those included in the STEM Booster ACT are often counterproductive.
Brief of Amici Curiae Gail Heriot, Peter Kirsanow and Todd Gaziano, Fisher v. Texas (merits stage)
“In this case, the Fifth Circuit has given the concept of ‘critical mass’ an expansive reading –one that is inconsistent with the letter and spirit of Grutter and with the Equal Protection Clause. Even if it could be said that Grutter left ambiguous the meaning of ‘critical mass,’ it is an important question of Constitutional law that should be settled by this Court and not various lower courts. The evidence discussed in this brief underlines tat question’s crucial importance. If Grutter is allowed to expand, the results will be unfortunate for the very persons whom affirmative action was designed to benefit.”
Download the full brief here: FisherMerits
School Discipline and Disparate Impact
Download the PDF: School Discipline and Disparate Impact
The Department of Education engaged in a Fall 2010 Disparate Impact Initiative, which examined whether there were racial disparities in school discipline. In response, the Commission held a briefing in February 2011 to examine how schools were responding to the initiative. Witnesses discussed the roots of disruptive behavior, discipline strategies, problems with a disparate impact approach to discipline, and whether it is advisable to use disparate impact to enforce Title VI in the wake of Alexander v. Sandoval. The witnesses included teachers, school administrators, and representatives of the Department of Education.
Race Neutral Enforcement of the Law? The U.S. Department of Justice and the New Black Panther Party Investigation
Download the PDF: New Black Panther Party Report
During the 2008 presidential election, two New Black Panther Party (NBPP) members stood outside a polling place in Philadelphia in paramilitary garb and shouted racial slurs. One of the men brandished a nightstick. In December 2008, a civil case for alleged Voting Rights Act violations for intimidating or attempting to intimidate voters, poll workers and observers was initiated against the NBPP, its chairman, and the two men at the polling place. Despite the entry of a default judgment in DOJ’s favor, in May 2009 the Department abruptly reversed course. It dismissed charges against all but one of the defendants and reduced the original sanctions it requested against the original defendant. Due to the Department’s inconsistent explanations for its actions, the Commission initiated an investigation into whether the Department enforced the Voting Rights Act in a race-neutral manner in the NBPP case.
Letter to Attorney General Holder Regarding ACORN
Download PDF: Commission Letter to Attorney General Holder regarding ACORN
In October 2009, the Commission sent a letter to Attorney General Holder urging him to direct the Department of Justice to investigate whether ACORN was involved in fostering vote fraud.
Lights, Camera, Legislation: Congress Set to Adopt Hate Crimes Bill that May Put Double Jeopardy Protections in Jeopardy
Download the full article here: 20090216_HeriotEngage101