Hebert, Rich, and Bickerstaff to discuss "DOJ politicization"
Press release: Two former Department of Justice officials will join a University of Texas law professor and election law expert to discuss politicization of the United States Department of Justice at an informal press event at the National Press Club on Friday.
The discussion will cover recent episodes of Department of Justice decision-making, including the dismissal of the eight U.S. attorneys, recent voter fraud cases, partisan enforcement of the Voting Rights Act, hiring of attorneys in the Department and approval of the 2003 congressional redistricting in Texas masterminded by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
The panel of three attorneys will discuss DOJ politicization under the present Administration. The panel includes two attorneys formerly with the Department of Justice -- J. Gerald Hebert, now Executive Director of the Campaign Legal Center and the lead attorney for the Congressional Democrats in the Texas Congressional redistricting suit, and Joseph Rich, who was Chief of the Division’s Voting Section from 1999 until 2005 and is now Director of the Fair Housing Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Both Hebert and Rich served for decades in the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, spanning many Administrations.
University of Texas adjunct law professor and election law expert Steve Bickerstaff, joining Hebert and Rich on the panel, recently authored a book (Lines in the Sand) on the 2003 Congressional redistricting episode in Texas, the politicization of the DOJ and the downfall of Tom DeLay. He also was among the persons who wrote a recommendation letter calling for the confirmation of Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General in 2005, but has recently called for his resignation. Like Hebert and Rich, he has lengthy personal experience with the Department of Justice.
WHEN:
Friday, March 30, 9:30-11 a.m.
WHERE
Zenger Room, National Press Club
529 14th Street N.W., Washington, D.C.