Merrick Garland comes out swinging
For the last few weeks, there’s been a growing hostility on social media against Attorney General Merrick Garland, largely from the small but loud sphere of influence known as #DoSomething Twitter. It’s also been partially amplified by the media hungry for clickbait ratings – but much of this sentiment stems from misreadings of Garland’s court filings and the failure to realize that the steps the law takes are slow and cautious.
On Friday, Garland made an announcement that is a significant step in the right direction: He’s suing the state of Georgia over their voting restrictions. While the state’s GOP decided to implement policies as inhumane as possible to make sure they don’t lose their trifecta, the law has been nothing but a massive headache for Republicans so far, as businesses have rapidly begun withdrawing their dealings in Georgia.
The lawsuit is just the beginning, and is obviously no substitute for badly needed voting rights legislation that can protect voters across the country, but it will set the crucial steps for what’s next in the fight and make it much more difficult for the most malicious parts of the bill to take hold. Texas Democrats were successful in getting rid of the parts in their state’s bill that allowed for legislators to overturn elections when they blocked the bill from a vote. Whatever happens, Garland’s lawsuit will certainly be a hindrance on similar draconian voting bills as the ones in Texas and Georgia from being signed into law.
James Sullivan is the assistant editor of Brain World Magazine and an advocate of science-based policy making