Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. touched a nerve in Massachusetts on Thursday when he asserted that the Bay State has the worst record in the country on voting and registration by African-Americans. His remarks came as the high court was hearing arguments on a case involving the Voting Rights Act, which is designed to promote equal access to polling places.
Roberts asked Donald Verilli Jr., the solicitor general for the Justice Department, whether he knew which state had the worst ratio of white voter turnout to African-American turnout. When Verilli said he didn’t, Roberts told him it was Massachusetts. He added later that Massachusetts also has the greatest racial disparity in registration.
The Globe jumped on the story and hit paydirt when Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin said Roberts had his facts wrong. In high dungeon, Galvin said he was calling out Roberts and his “effort to make a cheap-shot point.” The Globe found plenty of other locals who attacked Roberts’s remarks as unsubstantiated.
Unfortunately, there’s no good data in Massachusetts on voting by race because state officials don’t track that information. The chief justice’s comments appear to have been based on a US Census survey (see Table 4b) from the 2010 election that showed a paltry 29.1 percent of blacks voted in Massachusetts.
But the Census survey has a number of problems. First, it has a large margin of error on black voting. Second, it’s risky to rank states on black voting, as Roberts did, because the black population in 17 states was so small that it was impossible to make any statistical comparisons. The datapoint Roberts seized on was the percent of blacks in Massachusetts who voted. According to the Census survey, the 29.2 percent figure had a margin of error of 9.2 percent. The Census survey indicates 39.3 percent of black voters in Massachusetts who are citizens cast ballots.
–BRUCE MOHL
BEACON HILL
The Department of Public Health, reeling from several scandals, is planning to hire 30 new inspectors to oversee health care, hazardous material, and substance abuse facilities.
Keller@Large says that if the Registry of Motor Vehicles, long a poster child for bloated bureaucracy and mind-numbing delays, can function efficiently with less money and people, why can’t the rest of state government?
Housing and Economic Development Secretary Greg Bialecki and Transportation Secretary Richard Davey talk up Gov. Deval Patrick’s budget plan in Metro West. Patrick is sending unions and local officials to lobby recalcitrant lawmakers.
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
Brockton explores whether the city should start seizing underwater mortgages by eminent domain, CommonWealth reports. Check out Paul McMorrow’s cool graphic.
State Rep. Kevin Sullivan’s new post as head of the Fall River Housing Authority is on hold while state officials review his contract, which they say is not the standard one used by housing authorities.
Freetown selectmen have asked the town’s law firm to lead an investigation into the building inspector after two local businessmen hired a private investigator to probe the inspector’s business dealings.
Chatham considers pay-as-you-throw trash collection.
NATIONAL POLITICS/WASHINGTON
The Justice Department asks the Supreme Court to strike down California’s anti-gay marriage statute.
House Republicans stop negotiating over the sequester cuts.
Gun buyback programs, once dismissed as ineffective, are being revisited by many municipalities, Governing reports.
ELECTIONS
Massachusetts Republicans worry about the price of their looming three-way Senate primary. Republican newcomer Gabriel Gomez announces his candidacy, triggering coverage in the Globe, WBUR, and CommonWealth.
Rep. Peter King is barnstorming around New York, asking Republican fundraisers not to give money to Sen. Marco Rubio. King is upset that Rubio voted against an aid package following Hurricane Sandy, so now he’s tearing through Manhattan media, dropping gems like, “To have the balls to come in and say, ‘We screwed you, now make us president?’” and, “Being from New York we’re not supposed to be suckers,” and “Don’t give them a nickel!”
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Groupon fires its leader, Andrew Mason, who says goodbye to employees with a very interesting note.
Overstock threatens to cut ties with its affiliates in Massachusetts if the state starts taxing Internet retailers, the Globe reports.
The IRS, which had waited six months to post lists of nonprofits who have had their tax exemption status revoked for failing to file paperwork, will now make the list available within a month of the action.
The Quincy Chamber of Commerce is reviving a $1 million loan program in anticipation of small businesses looking to open up with the $1.6 billion redevelopment of the downtown area.
Freddie Mac, the taxpayer-owned mortgage firm, posts its first annual profit since 2006. Also making an appearance for the first time since 2006: the Goldman Sachs partners ball.
Big banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America had far more faulty foreclosures on their books than federal regulators previously disclosed, although an inquiry into the errors was halted by last year’s national foreclosure settlement.
The USDA weighs whether to approve a New Mexico horse slaughter plant. It would be the first time in six years that the government has inspected horse meat, but opponents worry about the mingling of drugged horse meat with ground beef.
EDUCATION
The Lowell Community Charter Public School is taken off probation as state officials say its turnaround has been profound, the Lowell Sun reports.
A judge reinstates the $157,000-a-year pension of the former Merrimack Special Education Collaborative executive director, the Lowell Sun reports.
Gloucester eases school bus and sports fees, the Gloucester Times reports.
The Black Educators Alliance of Massachusetts has raised concerns about the statistical models used to construct new school assignment plans in Boston.
A Wall Street Journal op-ed column doubts the effectiveness of robust preschool programs in Oklahoma and Georgia.
HEALTH CARE
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts decides to start paying directors again, but reduces the salary to between $47,000 and $54,500.
While many other pharmacies are able to connect, CVS, the largest pharmacy chain in the state, says it is unable so far to access the state’s database to monitor prescription drug records that is aimed at stemming drug abuse.
Not exactly the Vulcan mind meld but researchers have placed implants in rats’ and monkeys’ brains and showed that telecommunication is possible.
TRANSPORTATION
A Brookings-Rockefeller Project report finds record numbers of people turning to Amtrak, especially in the Northeast Corridor.
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
A report from the Conservation Law Foundation says the financial future of the Brayton Point power plant in Somerset is “bleak” because of a “perfect storm” of market conditions that are affecting the coal-burning facility. CommonWealth previously reported on the decline of coal power in Massachusetts.
The Conservation Law Foundation sues Newburyport developer Steve Karp over alleged violations of the Clean Water Act.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
The release of some jailed immigrants bring a debate on freeing more, the Globe reports.
MEDIA
Brandeis University professor Eileen McNamara takes Orange County Register publisher Aaron Kushner, who has been mentioned as a possible suitor for the Globe, to the woodshed for censoring political ads.
A bill requiring search engines such as Google to pay royalties to publishers for using snippets of their work in results makes some headway in the German parliament.
Harvard Business School professor Clay Christensen gives a talk on how news organizations should respond to the Internet.
