Today is Law Day, Does Thomas Perez Know What that Means?

Today is Law Day for members of RNLA and other who believe in the rule of law.  Law Day is a special day aimed to help people appreciate their liberties and to affirm their loyalty to the United States, especially with regard to equality and justice. It also aims to cultivate respect for the law, which is vital to the democratic way of life.

For others it is May Day or International Workers Day.  The contrast could not be stronger.  Unfortunately the Obama Administration seems to be opposing Law Day with their nomination of Thomas Perez to be Labor Secretary.

Perez testified that Obama political appointees were not involved in the decision to drop the case against three of the four defendants from the New Black Panther Party.

But the Justice Department's inspector general said Perez's testimony was deficient.

"We found that Perez's testimony did not reflect the entire story regarding the involvement of political appointees," the report stated.

Regardless of the underlying decision, Perez’s lack of candor raises serious questions about his fitness to lead a major governing agency.  It is also an example of Perez’s disrespect for the rule of law of which there are unfortunately too many.  As Ed Whelan pointed out Perez :

signed on to the Obama administration’s brief in the Hosanna-Taborcase, a brief that was remarkably hostile to the religious-liberty right of churches and other religious organizations to select their own faith leaders. The Supreme Court unanimously rejected the administration’s “remarkable view that the Religion Clauses have nothing to say about a religious organization’s freedom to select its own ministers” and that religious organizations are instead limited to the right to freedom of association that labor unions and social clubs enjoy. It understatedly observed that the administration’s position “is hard to square with the text of the First Amendment itself, which gives special solicitude to the rights of religious organizations.”

 

Of course problematic outrageous decisions are far too common in the Civil Division of the Justice Department under Perez.  For example, Perez’s opposition to Voter ID went to irrational extremes.  Again, don’t believe Republicans or conservatives but listen to the courts and facts:

A federal court has ruled that South Carolina was the prevailing party in the unnecessary Voter ID litigation, and therefore the Justice Department is liable for paying the state’s costs. South Carolina spent $3,500,000 to obtain federal court approval of the state’s Voter ID law as non-discriminatory under the Voting Rights Act. The lawsuit was made necessary only because of the political and ideological radicalism of Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez and his deputy Matthew Colangelo.

PJ Media had this exclusive report detailing that career Voting Section employees, including Voting Section Chief Chris Herren, recommended that the Voter ID law be approved in the first place by DOJ after a careful written analysis inside the Voting Section.  Documents prepared by the career staff urged Perez and Colangelo to grant administrative approval to the South Carolina Voter ID law — but they refused. Their refusal was, in part, designed to energize a moribund political base heading into the 2012 election. The cost to the American taxpayers for their stunt will be significant.

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson’s office was quick to respond to the court’s ruling late yesterday:

“The state Attorney General’s Office blamed the U.S. Department of Justice for the high cost of the case. They accused the federal government of delaying the case by 120 days by filing numerous frivolous motions, including challenging the 12-point font size on a document the state filed.

“The Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., bears responsibility for the litigation costs,” said Mark Powell, Wilson’s spokesman. “The decision was so emphatic, even the Department of Justice and Interveners did not appeal it. South Carolina was forced to pay a hefty price because a handful of Washington insiders refused to do the right thing.”

The Courts have made the taxpayers pay for Perez’s excesses.  The Obama Administration has rewarded him by naming him Labor Secretary. Unfortunately it will likely remain the job of lawyers who respect the principals of Law Day to keep Perez in line.