Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made clear in a speech to the National Press Club Monday that he's going to take a
very narrow view of what constitutes justice as far as his committee is concerned. That doesn't include voting rights or conflicts between citizens and the police.
During an event at the National Press Club, Grassley was asked about the committee considering a bill that would fix the landmark 1965 law. The Supreme Court struck down Section 4 of the law in 2013, ruling that it needed to be updated. The section determined which states and localities with a history of suppressing minority voters had to get permission from the Justice Department to change their voting laws. The justices instructed Congress to come up with a new formula for designating which regions of the country warrant special scrutiny.
Grassley dismissed the idea that there's a need to act.
"It depends on what you want to fix," he said. "If you want to fix more minorities voting, more minorities are already voting."
Sen. Patrick Leahy's (D-VT) legislation to update Section 4, introduced last year and slated to be reintroduced soon, probably won't be getting a hearing any time soon, then. Even if Leahy is ranking member of the committee.
But that's not the only injustice Grassley isn't going to be prioritizing. He says he has no interest in questioning law enforcement when cops kill unarmed African Americans. "I'm not the guy thats facing some violent person or to know whether that person is violent or not. So I hate to second guess [whether] people I expect to protect me might be doing something right or wrong," he said. "It may be that we decide not to do anything." Anybody want to take bets on whether his committee investigates?
He's also put an expiration date on taking any new nominations from President Obama. In his telling, his plan to cut nominations off in July 2016 follows the "tradition" of late vacancies to be filled by the new president." That, of course, is bunk. Leahy as chairman held a hearing on President George W. Bush's nominations in September 2008. Some tradition.
You might get the feeling from all this that Sen. Grassley's views on justice are somewhat less than color blind.