There is another bizarre filing from Mark Elias, the controversial Democratic lawyer who helped to secretly fund the infamous Steele Dossier. In a new filing, Elias is challenging the district in New York City with the lone Republican member as violating the state voting rights act. Elias is effectively arguing that voting Republican is evidence of racism.
In the petition, voters bring a New York Voting Rights Act challenge, arguing that the Eleventh District “provides Black and Latino Staten Islanders less opportunity than other members of the electorate to elect a representative of their choice and influence elections in New York’s 11th Congressional District (“CD-11”), in violation of the prohibition against racial vote dilution in Article III, Section 4(c)(1) of the New York Constitution.”
The filing occurs after New York moved to further gerrymander the state, aiming to eliminate more Republican members of Congress. Across the country, Democrats have pushed for such gerrymandering, but in New York, the efforts are particularly extreme.
Trump received 45 percent of the vote. Republicans are confined to a small handful of districts. It is still too much for Elias.
Elias has not only been sanctioned in past litigation, but past courts have also criticized his group. In Maryland, Elias filed in support of an abusive gerrymandering of the election districts that a court found violated not only Maryland law but the state constitution’s equal protection, free speech, and free elections clauses. The court found that the map pushed by Elias “subverts the will of those governed.”
It was Elias who made the key funding available to Fusion GPS, which in turn enlisted Steele to produce his now discredited dossier on Trump and his campaign.
During the campaign, reporters did ask about the possible connection to the campaign, but Clinton campaign officials denied any involvement. Weeks after the election, journalists discovered that the Clinton campaign hid payments for the Steele dossier as “legal fees” among the $5.6 million paid to Perkins Coie.
New York Times reporter Ken Vogel said at the time that Elias denied involvement in the anti-Trump dossier. When Vogel tried to report the story, he said, Elias “pushed back vigorously, saying ‘You (or your sources) are wrong.’” Times reporter Maggie Haberman declared, “Folks involved in funding this lied about it, and with sanctimony, for a year.”
It was not just reporters who inquired about the Clinton campaign’s role in the Steele dossier. John Podesta, Clinton’s campaign chairman, was questioned by Congress and categorically denied any contractual agreement with Fusion GPS. Sitting beside him was Elias, who reportedly said nothing to correct the misleading information given to Congress.
Back to the latest Elias filing. There is a pending case before the Supreme Court in Louisiana v. Callais that could curtail or end the use of race to set voting districts to favor black voters under the federal Voting Rights Act.
However, this is a novel claim that, even in a gerrymandered state striving to reduce Republican members, a district is racist because it favors the election of a Republican Thus, as Professor Josh Blackman noted “in a district where Democratic voters cannot elect a Democrat, they can bring a VRA claim, even in an overwhelmingly democratic state where there is not even a scintilla of evidence of racial discrimination.” However, the opposite is not true. In a red state with overwhelming Republican majorities, a district that effectively bars the election of a Republican could not be grounds for a VRA claim.
The filing proclaims that the heavily Democratic gerrymandered state shows that “New York has become a national leader in protecting voting rights.” It emphasizes that the state goes further than the federal VRA:
“the NY VRA does not require the plaintiff to show that a district could have been drawn that would have a majority of residents of a single protected class. A plaintiff need only show that the current district map is responsible for the protected class’s lack of electoral influence based on the existence of racially polarized voting or the totality of the circumstances.”
The filing makes clear that Black and Latino voters support Democrats and thus a Republican member favoring the GOP dilutes their votes:
“Black and Latino voters on Staten Island are politically cohesive and consistently and overwhelmingly support the same candidates, which the rest of the electorate consistently opposes. At the same time, the white majority on Staten Island overwhelmingly supports the same candidates and votes as a bloc to usually defeat Black and Latino voters’ candidates of choice.”
In other words (with translation):
“Black and Latino voters on Staten Island are politically cohesive and consistently and overwhelmingly support [Democrats], which the rest of the [District] opposes. At the same time, the white majority on Staten Island overwhelmingly supports [Republicans] and votes as a bloc to usually defeat Black and Latino voters’ [Democratic] candidates of choice.”
So, even in a state that has artificially reduced Republican members and is claimed as a model of districting to enhance minority voters, any district that favors Republicans is still evidence of racist discrimination in voting. Presumably, the only way to truly guarantee the protection of minority voters in New York City is the effective elimination of any Republican member.
everyone realize who sends this maniac his money?
Consider the source. ‘Nuff said.
I’m an American. I’m a Native American, the only REAL Americans. My country was invaded in 1607 by a bunch of white European illegal aliens who brought smallpox, dysentery, typhoid, measles, influenza and diphtheria.
Oh look! Princess Fauxahontas Warren is arriving: like Obama, ditching her White Privilege to appear before us as an oppressed communist native Princess. Still hasn’t quite figured out that not all cultures have equally positive characteristics. Let Princess Fauxahontas’ complaint continue:
Which was the beginning of Europeans putting an end to our Heritage Folks’ endlessly committing conquests of genocide carried out against neighboring tribes, ritual murder, cultural Muslim-like misogyny. All while engaging in our other heritage practices of raiding to take women into sexual slavery and human sacrifice to our cruel gods. (Please ignore my ignorance that the first Europeans arrived six centuries before 1607)
We preferred our Heritage Folks Rule of Tribal Chief Kings, like the later communist despotic tyranny. Rather than fairly chosen leaders by way of a majority vote. And of course, death by starvation being our greatest threat after the threat of being butchered or dying in slavery to neighboring tribes.
The Europeans greatest crime of all committed against us was bringing us European methods of medical treatment and tools and techniques that put an end to our ancestral life expectancy of dying before we ever saw our 25th birthday.
Now we have the European curse: we have gone downhill so far that many of us now live to our 80’s – cursed by another 60 years of life where we must suffer living under European lifestyles. But at least I got into law school on the basis of my Native American Princess Privilege, followed by getting elected on the basis of my Pow Wow Chow American Native heritage.
Conflicts between different cultures, like elections, also have consequences for those who lose them. Whether they’re communist Indian Princesses like Elizabeth Warren, or anti-Semitic mulatto Marxist presidents like Obama, renouncing his Systemically Racist White Privilege to prop up and fund his favorite brown-skinned Arab Mad Mullah terrorists in Iran.
Elias should be in Club Gitmo.
Trick or Treat!
https://x.com/i/status/1973079491728867548
*. Judge ordered snap to be funded using contingency money. DJT should do as told and say thank you judge. Would you now order congress to pass the budget and add to the budget a repayment of the contingency money. Thank you, your honor. Then he can add a call to congress to pass the budget.
Anyone laughing?
I thought that the USD6B contingengy fund was specifically allocated for natural disasters like flooding, hurricanes and tornadoes, and therefore could not be used for ideological disasters like Democrats. Trump should tell the judges to go pound sand. Caving in any way to the crazy Left would be a bad move.
Not at the DNC.
This hack Elias is not disbarred already? NY is a disgrace. Their legal system, a toy for the democrats and their soon to be mayor… well deserved smh. If you want justice , I suggest leaving New York for it otherwise you are on your own.
Just curious but I bet he’s a Jew
Why the Jew-hate? Of course, hiding behind anonymity allows one to express their true inner feelings. And you have.
Who
So??????????? Typical lib. Just haters
“Just curious but I bet he’s a Jew”
Just curious, but do you also bet that other judges ruling the same way to give judges Executive Branch authority are also Jews? Judges like Sotomayor and Jackson, for example?
Professor Turley,
While I agree that the Staten Island NYVRA claim is a stretch, I don’t think you have fairly summarized the argument. You quote Josh Blackman, who said that “there is not even a scintilla of evidence of racial discrimination.” Obviously this is wrong. Staten Island was the location of the Eric Garner incident, after all. The petition provides a summary of the history of racial discrimination in Staten Island. If you actually read the petition, then you wouldn’t be able to put Blackman’s ridiculous quote in your article.
I don’t think that the history of discrimination alone should satisfy the totality of the circumstances test. The petition failed to identify voter suppression efforts, intentional dilution efforts, or other activities which show that voting practices or procedures have or could have dilutive effects.
Of course, this “legal blog” did not even provide a summary of the totality of the circumstances test to provide a real legal analysis of the claim. Thus, your readers are left without any ability to assess the quality of the petition on your own. You spend more time attacking the attorney, rather than the substance of the claim, which shows your real motivation.
And, worst of all, you focus more on the GOP vs. Democrat framing rather than the fact that the petition and the law have no bearing on party identification. The GOP could appeal to minority voters if it wanted to. And, in fact, with the MAGA movement, it has! The party’s shift to pro-labor, anti-free market/pro-protectionism, and pro-Christian nationalism has largely won over more working class and minority voters, as the Democratic party’s myopic focus on social issues has not resonated well outside of white suburbs. If the parties flip (again!), a GOP operative could make the same claim as Marc Elias.
Anonymous the know it all again an expert on the law. Last month she was a know it all expert medical practitioner. Name the subject and Anonymous the know it all will have an opinion. On more than one occasion I have pointed out that she was once an expert on a rouse that even the MSM has backtracked on known as RussiaGate. If Trump said that the earth rotates around the sun the know it all Anonymous would say he is wrong and that she is an expert on the movements of the heavens. Law, puberty blockers, trans kids will kill themselves, MS-13 tattoos on your knuckles doesn’t mean you’re a member of Mexican Cartel gang. She the great swamy Anonymous knows it all and will reveal all the secrets for the cost of one thing dime and the sacrifice of your first born child due to a Fentanyl overdose. You better listen up folks so you won’t miss the latest post by the great Anonymous know it all. Be sure to sign up and not miss her upcoming seance. Don’t forget your bow down rug cause your knees are going to need it.
Think
Nice replay. (-:
If you are such a terrible parent your child wants to kill themselves then maybe the problem is you.
It’s also “one thin dime.” There’s no “g” in that saying. It’s not the only thing you have wrong.
The Earth orbits the sun, sometimes it is referred to as revolving around the Sun; it rotates on its axis. Trump would get both of them wrong, as you did.
MAGA makes appealing offers and then fails to deliver because they don’t want to deliver. The Democrats have the problem that MAGA don’t want them to deliver either. The MAGA leadership goal is to hand control of the government to a handful of billionaires. All else is smokescreen.
First, Staten Island and Queens were the only NYC boroughs that did not have to submit voting law changes for preclearance. The other three boroughs have a documented history of racial discrimination.
Second, Marc Elias was Hillary’s co-conspirator in the violation of New York Election Law 17-152, when they mislabeled Steele Dossier paymsnts as “Legal Services” on official reports to the FEC. Neither Marc nor Hillary were prosecuted for their New York State crimes — I think we know why.
Thanks for bring facts, rather than tendentious rhetoric, to the discussion.
DEar Prof Turley,
boo.
‘Gerrymandering’, as we have discussed previously, is just the Democrats and Republicans working out the finer details of the Exclusive parameters in the Matrix Reality.
Notice, there are no ‘Libertarian’ gerrymandered districts, no ‘Socialists Party’ districts, no ‘Independent’ districts .. . and there are more of them than anybody.
There are only Democrat and Republican Gerrymandered Districts.
*the Matrix has you!
dgsnowden says:Notice, there are no ‘Libertarian’ gerrymandered districts, no ‘Socialists Party’ districts, no ‘Independent’ districts .. . and there are more of them than anybody.
*Please don’t take notice that I’m lyin’ like a Biden and hoping you don’t notice the avowed Democrat Socialists of America in Congress like AOC, Rashida Tlaib, Cori Bush, Summer Lee, their godfather Bernie Sanders, etc. Or Independents like Angus King.
You can see how my mental Matrix has me in thrall.
Shortly after Trump was elected in 2016, TDS victims claimed that the states that voted for Trump were low IQ. One of those dopes was my cousin who lives in igo California. Maybe if she was a little smarter herself she would have checked first to see that her county, Shasta, preferred Trump.
No one ever went broke betting against the perception skills of TDS victims
Nor on the ignorance MAGA drones.
Yep you and Hillary Anonymous grouping all the people who voted for Trump in your basket of deplorables. You once approved of her use of a term that as much as anything lost her the election.
The average person knows a narcissist when they hear you and Hillary put them in the basket. If you and Hillary had your way you’d stuff them into the basket good and packed down with the full force of the law. There once was a man in Germany who also had a basket of deplorables. The similarity with your thinking is obvious. Stuff em in a basket throw them into a fire and don’t allow them to give their opinion on social media or a German mouth piece newspaper previously known as Völkischer Beobachter. Like happy little peas in a pod you are.
Thank you. Exactly.
Thinkitthrough,
Republicans chose to self-identify with the half of Trump supporters in the basket of deplorables.
Among the first targets of the Nazi party were gay and transsexual people. Any similarities noted?
The problem, of course, is by choosing not to be in the basket, to not giving in to the racism, misogyny, homophobia, and xenophobia, and voting for a candidate who appealed to those in that basket, one would be voting for someone who is against those things.
Are you placing yourself in the basket or choosing not to be?
Are you placing blind support for party in support of deplorables?
And the terminal Midol Moment of the Democrats Useless Idiot birthing boys is always on display. Proclaiming they are intellectually superior as they attempt to lecture us that they actually are women – the proof being their claim that they are as they demand access to little girls’ changerooms to put their junk on display as a teaching aid.
You should start a GoFundMe to get a lifetime supply of Midol. I doubt you’ll ever need to spend a dime on sanitary pads for those menstrual periods you’re waiting to arrive.