John Nichols on April 17, 2012 - 12:00 PM ET
Pressured by watchdog groups, civil rights organizations and a growing
national movement for accountable lawmaking, the American Legislative
Exchange Council announced Tuesday that it was disbanding the task
force that has been responsible for advancing controversial Voter ID
and "Stand Your Ground" laws.
ALEC, the shadowy corporate-funded proponent of so-called "model
legislation" for passage by pliant state legislatures, announced that
it would disband its "Public Safety and Elections" task force. The
task force has been the prime vehicle for proposing and advancing what
critics describe as voter-suppression and anti-democratic
initiatives—not just restrictive Voter ID laws but also plans to limit
the ability of citizens to petition for referendums and constitutional
changes that favor workers and communities. The task force has also
been the source of so-called "Castle Doctrine" and "Stand Your Ground"
laws that limit the ability of police and prosecutors to pursue
inquiries into shootings of unarmed individuals such as Florida
teenager Trayvon Martin.
The decision to disband the task force appears to get ALEC out of the
business of promoting Voter ID and "Stand Your Ground" laws. That's a
dramatic turn of events, with significant implications for state-based
struggles over voting rights an elections, as well as criminal justice
policy. But it does not mean that ALEC will stop promoting
one-size-fits-all "model legislation" at the state level.
Indeed, the disbanding of the "Public Safety and Elections" task force
looks in every sense to be a desperate attempt to slow an exodus of
high-profile corporations from the group's membership roll.
Anger over initial failure of Florida police and prosecutors to
address Martin's shooting led to an intense focus on the state's
"Stand Your Ground" law, and on the role of ALEC and the National
Rifle Association in passing similar laws in states across the
country.
That expanded interest in ALEC, a conservative "bill mill" that has
been under scrutiny since the Center for Media and Democracy and The
Nation launched the "ALEC Exposed" project last summer.
Pressure by CMD, civil rights groups such as the NAACP, the Urban
League and ColorOfChange and good government organizations such as
Common Cause and People for the American Way—which have expressed
concern with ALEC's meddling in public safety and democracy debates at
the state level—has in recent weeks led to decisions by Coca-Cola,
Pepsi, McDonald's and other corporations to drop their affiliations
with ALEC.
In many cases, the corporations that have quit ALEC have suggested
that—while they were comfortable working with the right-wing group in
order to advocate on behalf of tax and regulatory policies that are
favorable to their business interests—they are ill at ease being drawn
into debates about issues such as voting rights and gun control.
ALEC's decision to disband the Public Safety and Elections task
force—which worked on those issues—cannot be seen as anything other
than a response to the pressure the group has felt as high-profile
corporate members have been quitting it on an almost daily basis.
While the group is not acknowledging as much, its statement on the
disbanding of the task force speaks volumes.
"We are refocusing our commitment to free-market, limited government
and pro-growth principles, and have made changes internally to reflect
this renewed focus," announced Indiana State Representative David
Frizzell, ALEC's national chairman. "We are eliminating the ALEC
Public Safety and Elections task force that dealt with non-economic
issues, and reinvesting these resources in the task forces that focus
on the economy."
While this is a dramatic development in the struggle to expose and
challenge ALEC's one-size-fits all assault on local and state
democracy, it should be remembered that ALEC remains a prime
proponent—via task forces working in other areas—of state-based
assaults on labor rights, environmental protections and public
education.
"Dozens of corporations are investing millions of dollars a year to
write business-friendly legislation that is being made into law in
statehouses coast to coast, with no regard for the public interest,"
explains Bob Edgar of Common Cause. "This is proof positive of the
depth and scope of the corporate reach into our democratic processes."
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Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
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