DOJ attacks county in Montana

Bill Lann Lee' Civil Rights Division Wants Election Guarantee by Race

It is not as if the rural West did not have enough to worry about Since the first days of the Clinton Administration, Westerners have been sent feeling by a War on the West that has done incalculable harm to rural economies, recreational pursuits, a way of life, and even life itself New federal rules, a willingness to ignore and violate federal laws, never-say-die litigation, and unilateral presidential directives all have been used by Clinton officials to return the West to the radical environmentalist's vision of "pre-settlement conditions." As a result, many rural West economies (forestry, mining, oil and gas, ranching, farming and tourism) are dead or dying. At risk too are the people as, for example, Clinton officials challenge the right of Westerners to defend themselves against grizzly bears and condemn Western forests under a "let them burn" management policy.

Now comes the latest attack on rural Westerners. This time the attack comes, not from Bruce Babbitt and his Department of the Interior, the doom-saying enforcers of the Endangered Species Act (the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine and Fisheries Service), the anti-use partisans in the U.S. Forest Service, or even Clinton's lawyers in the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Westerners may now add one more division of the Clinton Administration sent to the front in the War on the West: the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.

Westerners may not recall the rancorous debate that ensued with President Clinton's nomination of Bill Lann Lee as assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's civil rights division. When the smoke cleared on Capitol Hill, Lee's nomination had been rejected due to what a majority of senators regarded as his racial politics and his unwillingness to adhere to the rulings of the Supreme Court of the United States in such cases as Adaran Constructors, Inc. v. Pens. Clinton would not be denied; he appointed Lee to the post, some say illegally and unconstitutionally, anyway. Then Lee set about to prove that the Senate's misgivings about his commitment to the Constitution were justified.

Is Montana Sovereign State?

In the late summer of 1999, Lee sent three of his lawyers into tiny, rural, isolated Chinook, Mont, population 1,500, to deliver an ultimatum to the Blaine County Commissioners. Either Blaine County admits to denying the civil rights of Blaine County's Native Americans in violation of the Voting Rights Act and redraws the county commissioner districts to guarantee the election of a Native. American commissioner, or the Department of Justice would sue! Blaine County, which lies in north central Montana, next to the border with Canada, its 7,000 citizens, and three county commissioners (one of whom had received 99% of the Native American vote in the last election) were stunned.

After all, Montana law requires Blaine County to elect commissioners as it does. In addition, Blaine County votes predominantly for Democratic Party candidates in county, state and national elections. All three commissioners and most other officers are Democrats, and the overwhelming majority of the county's Native Americans are Democrats. No one has been denied the right to vote or the ability to run for office. In fact, running for commissioner is as easy as signing a piece of paper.

But adherence to the Constitution is not enough for Clinton, Gore, Atty. Gen. Janet Reno, and Bill Lane Lee. Despite years of Supreme Court decisions rejecting racial get rymandering, including the Supreme Court's most recent 7-to-2 Hawaii decision, the Clinton Administration embraces, not the Constitution, but racial politics.

There is more at risk in the Clinton Administration's lawsuit, against Blaine County than whether the Constitution's equal protection guarantee means what it says. There is as well the issue of Montana's sovereignty under the Constitution, particularly the 10th Amendment. The next time people say there's not a War on the West, tell them about the battle raging in Blaine County, Mont.

Mr. Pendley is president and chief Legal officer of the Mountain States Legal Foundation, under whose auspices this article was produced.

Copyright Human Events Publishing, Inc. Mar 31, 2000
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