Tennessee asks 14K residents to prove citizenship

 

6/28/2024

Tennessee election officials seek proof of citizenship from over 14,000 residents in what critics are calling an intimidation tactic. A Black Alabama mayor can finally lead his town nearly four years after he was elected mayor under a new settlement. And a notorious Donald Trump advisor credited with creating the administration’s most extreme immigration policies is challenging election procedures in two battleground states.

Tennessee scares voters with letters seeking proof of citizenship

Tennessee election officials sent letters this month to over 14,000 individuals asking them to either verify their U.S. citizenship or request removal from the voter rolls. The move alarmed some Democratic state legislators, one of whom told Democracy Docket the letters are Republicans’ latest attempt to intimidate voters. “I've never seen such blatant voter intimidation,” Tennessee state Rep. Gloria Johnson said this week. The letter from the Republican secretary of state’s office was sent to individuals whose records appear to reflect that they aren’t U.S. citizens. Tennessee law also outlines the process for notifying registered voters that they could be removed from voter rolls, and it doesn’t appear to authorize the secretary of state’s office to send letters directly to residents. Nashville Councilor Sandra Sepulveda, the city’s only Latino councilwoman, asked recipients of the letter to report it to the ACLU of Tennessee, which sent a letter Thursday to the secretary of state’s office threatening to sue over the apparent requirements. Republican legislators across the country have pressed the issue of noncitizen voting this year, even though it’s illegal in federal elections. But the issue isn’t new, as more jurisdictions like Washington, D.C. have passed laws authorizing residents who aren’t U.S. citizens to vote in local elections. Earlier this month, Louisiana’s GOP governor signed legislation that will require people to include proof of citizenship with their voter registration applications. Johnson, whose constituent received a letter despite becoming a U.S. citizen in 2022, expressed concern over how the notice could spook new citizens who don’t want to run afoul of state and federal law. “They've done everything right,” she said. “It's just beyond the pale.” Read more on the letter here.

Black mayor can finally lead Alabama town years after his election

A Black man who won an Alabama mayoral race but was blocked from taking office by his white predecessors can finally lead the town after settling a lawsuit with the previous mayor and his town council. The settlement, which awaits approval from a federal judge, comes years after Patrick Braxton was elected to lead the small majority-Black town of Newbern. Upon his victory in 2020, outgoing mayor Haywood Stokes and his town council locked him out of the town hall and did not allow him to perform his mayoral duties, Braxton alleged in his 2022 complaint. “[Patrick] Braxton is the lawful mayor of Newbern,” the settlement declares, “and he shall hold all the powers, privileges, duties, responsibilities, privileges, authority, benefits and all other rights enjoyed by prior mayors and entrusted to the mayor of Newbern under Alabama state law.” Braxton and the town also agreed that all town council positions and town clerk positions are vacant, according to the settlement. “All individuals holding themselves out as town officials or otherwise acting on behalf of the Defendant Town of Newbern, excluding Plaintiff Braxton, will effectively resign.” The agreement could spell the end of an ordeal that for Braxton began almost four years ago. “I knew I was gonna be able to serve again, you know,” he told Capital B last week. “It’s just how long it was gonna take for us to get some kind of resolution first for this.” Read more background on the case, and watch us break down the recent developments.

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How Stephen Miller is using America First Legal to assail voting rights

America First Legal (AFL) is far from the only conservative organization seeking to undermine progressive causes and target the policies of President Biden’s administration. But it is the only such group led by Stephen Miller, top advisor to former President Donald Trump who’s credited with shaping the administration’s harshest immigration policies. A new analysis from Matt Cohen, who covers far-right movements and groups and their many legal maneuverings for Democracy Docket, details what AFL has been doing since its inception in April of 2021, and how Miller and AFL are challenging election and voting policies in Arizona and Pennsylvania — two states that will be critically important this fall.   Of the dozens of extremist lawsuits and legal actions AFL has filed so far, four have challenged election procedures: two drop box challenges in Pennsylvania, an Arizona lawsuit concerning election procedures, and a denied petition in a lawsuit to ensure Pennsylvania’s new congressional districts were in place for the 2022 midterm elections. In Pennsylvania, for example, the 2022 lawsuits challenged the use of drop boxes in Chester and Lehigh Counties. “Though both lawsuits were eventually dismissed, they’re prime examples of AFL’s attempts to find opportunities to legally disrupt the elections process.” Should AFL’s Arizona lawsuit prove successful, “many of [the state’s] most fundamental election procedures will be declared unlawful, enjoined, and significantly changed.” Read why here.

OPINION: Can Sheriffs Endorse Candidates While in Uniform? This One Thinks He Can

After a New York jury convicted former President Donald Trump of 34 felonies, a California sheriff took to social media to express his support in what appeared to be his official, taxpayer-funded vehicle. “I think it’s time we put a felon in the White House,” Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said. “Trump 2024, baby.” “Wearing his Riverside County Sheriff’s Office uniform … Bianco went viral on Instagram while he waited for a train to pass,” Democracy Docket guest author Jessica Pishko writes. “When some political commentators raised concerns … Bianco doubled-down, saying in an interview that it was all meant to be tongue-in-cheek.” Read more here.

What We’re Doing

ICYMI, the 2024 election is a few months away, but we’re already concerned about what issues we could face in the aftermath. Marc Elias breaks down potential post-election problems from certification to contests and more. Watch on YouTube here.

Top News: A 'Historic' Ruling for Oceans and Islands

 

Tuesday, May 21, 2024 ■ Today's Top News  Global Tribunal Issues 'Historic' Ruling for Oceans and Small Island Nations "Protecting the global commons of the oceans and atmosphere is a matter of life and death," said one expert who praised the decision. By Jessica Corbett    excerpt: An international tribunal on Tuesday delivered a decision that green groups and leaders of small island nations celebrated as a "groundbreaking victory for ocean and climate protection." The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) announced in an advisory opinion that greenhouse gas emissions are marine pollution under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and parties to the treaty "have the specific obligation to adopt laws and regulations to prevent, reduce, and control" them. The advisory came in response to a December 2022 submission by the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law (COSIS), which includes Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Niue, Palau, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. "The tribunal's opinion is an historic legal victory for small island nations, demonstrating their global leadership on this crucial issue for the future of humankind," said Payam Akhavan, a COSIS legal representative to ITLOS. "It is a manifest injustice that they make negligible contributions to the problem, but suffer the worst effects of rising sea levels and extreme weather events that have brought some to the brink of extinction." "As the guardian of the ocean treaty, ITLOS has taken the critical first step in recognizing that what small island nations have been fighting for at the COP negotiations for decades is already part of international law," he continued, referring to United Nations climate summits. "The major polluters must prevent catastrophic harm to small island nations, and if they fail to do so, they must compensate for the loss and damages." "To those that would hide behind the weaknesses of international climate treaties, this opinion makes clear that compliance with the Paris agreement alone is not enough." COSIS was initiated at COP26 by Tuvalu along with Antigua and Barbuda, whose prime minister, Gaston Browne, welcomed the ITLOS decision, stressing that "small island states are fighting for their survival" and "some will become inhabitable soon because of the failure to mitigate greenhouse emissions." Eselealofa Apinelu, Tuvalu's high commissioner to Fiji, pointed out that the advisory opinion "spells out the legally binding obligations of all states to protect the marine environment; to protect against the existential threats posed by climate change." Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) Climate & Energy Program director Nikki Reisch noted Tuesday that "to those that would hide behind the weaknesses of international climate treaties, this opinion makes clear that compliance with the Paris agreement alone is not enough." "Pledges and promises at annual climate conferences do not satisfy states' legal duties to take all necessary measures to prevent, reduce, and control the greenhouse gas emissions polluting the marine environment, in line with climate science and the goal of limiting warming to 1.5°C," Reisch continued. "We know that doing so requires rapidly phasing out all fossil fuels. States that fail to comply face legal responsibility," she added. "Protecting the global commons of the oceans and atmosphere is a matter of life and death—not just for entire marine ecosystems and the coastal and island communities most directly dependent on them and at greatest risk from climate change, but for all of humanity and the planet as a whole." CIEL and Greenpeace International last year had formally urged ITLOS to reach the conclusion that the tribunal ultimately did. Louise Fournier, legal counsel for climate justice and liability at Greenpeace, also cheered the outcome, saying Tuesday that "the ITLOS advisory opinion marks a significant step forward in international environmental law and the protection of our oceans." Global Rights Groups Back ICC Warrants for Israeli and Hamas Leaders "The fact that the court is not caving to Israeli or massive U.S. pressure and intends to continue its investigation cannot be praised highly enough," said one advocate. By Brett Wilkins Trump Tries to Backtrack After Signaling Support for Limits on Birth Control "Donald Trump has repeatedly promised that state Republicans will have a blank check to pass extreme laws attacking every facet of reproductive care," one critic noted. By Jessica Corbett 'Ethical Nightmare': House Democrats Demand Alito Recuse From Trump Cases "The fact of such a political statement at your home creates, at minimum, the appearance of improper political bias." By Brett Wilkins Israeli Scholar Sees Hope for Democratic Palestine 'To Replace This Apartheid State' "We are seeing... important processes that are leading to the collapse of the Zionist project," said Ilan Pappé, following his interrogation in the U.S. By Edward Carver Sanders Leads Senate Dems in Push to Strengthen Student Loan Debt Relief "We must act boldly so that the millions of Americans who are struggling to pay for basic necessities are not crushed by mountains of debt for getting a college education," said the Vermont senator. By Julia Conley

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