From Sam Smith's The Progressive Review for 3/21/00:
NEWS FROM THE COLONIES
A special three-judge federal court has tossed aside two suits seeking
increased democracy in the capital colony of Washington DC. One of the suits
addressed only the issue of congressional representation [Alexander v. Daley] while the second
[Adams v. Clinton] (in which your editor was a plaintiff) argued that the denial of
self-government as well as lack of representation were unconstitutional. The
latter suit made its case in part on the fact that thousands of federal
enclaves (such as military bases, national parks, and the NIH) are covered
under the same constitutional provision granting Congress exclusive
jurisdiction, but only DC residents are denied full citizenship.
The court failed to address this issue, and instead took nearly a year to
conclude in effect that not only were the rights sought unprotected by the
Constitution but that residents of the District could not even confront the
question in court. The attorney for the full rights suit, George LaRoche,
said: "The plaintiffs went to court with hats in hands, respectful of the
court, asking only to be heard on the record, given an opportunity to
present arguments and facts in support of their claims. If the court found
the plaintiffs' claims and arguments lacking, the court could have said so
directly and explained why directly. But the court has avoided addressing
the claims and arguments."
The court also ignored major differences in the two suits. The congressional
voting rights case, a favorite of the city's colonial elite for nearly a
century, would have provided DC with little substantive power, leaving the
city not unlike the erstwhile colony of Algeria, which had representation in
the French National Assembly but still lacked self-government. This status
appeals to many of the Washington establishment who are seeking a portal to
national politics as lawyers, lobbyists, and power brokers and care little
about self-determination for the majority black capital.
The second suit essentially demanded all the rights of American citizenship.
One of the plaintiffs, an American Indian, noted that if he returned to the
reservation he would have more rights than he does as a resident of DC.
As things now stand, the federal judiciary has declared DC residents to be
third-class Americans under the Constitution without judicial remedy for
their condition. Further, the decision can be properly, and without
exaggeration, called racist, as it perpetuates prejudice by official fiat.
It is expected that the cases will be appealed to the Supreme Court and to
Organization of American States, since the city's status violates that
group's charter.
[For more information on the two lawsuits, including the complete pleadings, go to: http://standupfordemocracy.org/20citizens/]
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