On Wednesday, Senator Mike Lee accused liberal law professor Rick Hasen of testifying untruthfully before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on The Constitution and demanded that he apologize. In his testimony, Hasen made personal attacks on the integrity of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, asserting that they intentionally misconstrued the Voting Rights Act in Brnovich for the ulterior objective of making it difficult for citizens to obtain legal protection for their right to vote.
Prof. Rick Hasen: "The opinion by Justice Samuel Alito [in Brnovich] is unmoored to the text of the statute, ignores the relevant history of Voting Rights Act and thwarts Congress’s intent."
— Democracy Docket (@DemocracyDocket) July 14, 2021
PROF. RICK HASEN: "I do believe that Chief Justice John Roberts has shown, from the 1980s through his time on the court, that he is hostile to broad protections of racial minorities under the Voting Rights Act."
— Democracy Docket (@DemocracyDocket) July 14, 2021
Senator Lee responded swiftly and forcefully. He stated that while honest lawyers can disagree about the meaning of a statute, he believes that the Supreme Court accurately interpreted the Voting Rights Act. But what Senator Lee condemned was how Hasen attributed the outcomes of Supreme Court decisions to dishonesty by the Justices. Such claims, according to Senator Lee, are patently false and beneath the dignity of the Senate. He demanded Hasen apologize.
Hasen was brazen in response when he stated later in the hearing:
Far from apologizing to Justice Alito as Senator Lee suggested, I want to double down and say that this is an opinion that is unmoored to the text.
Former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and Judicial Watch's Russell Nobile provided a welcome contrast to Hasen and the other Democrats' testimony.
Common sense voter integrity protections like #voterID and measures to outlaw #BallotTrafficking protect the right of every American to vote - period. https://t.co/NDUXAFc1js
— Election Transparency Initiative (@ETI_now) July 14, 2021
.@KenCuccinelli: “Citizens can have confidence in their elections, but only if the federal government doesn’t force them to eliminate basic rules of fair and accurate elections.”
— Lawyers Democracy (@lawyersdf) July 14, 2021
.@KenCuccinelli: “The first and most important thing the Senate can do is stick with the #VRA in its current form to fight actual discrimination where it occurs…not go beyond it to a partisan federal takeover of our elections.” 3/3
— Lawyers Democracy (@lawyersdf) July 14, 2021
.@JudicialWatch's Russell Nobile adds that H.R.4 provides for 2 types of pre-clearance, a national version for election integrity measures and a new trigger for traditional § 5 preclearance. This means that some jurisdictions could be subjected to 2 types of preclearance.
— RNLA ⚖️ (@TheRepLawyer) July 14, 2021
We agree with Senator Lee, Hasen should apologize for his unnecessary and unprofessional personal attacks on Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito.