The Washington Post editorial page -- surprisingly -- gets the New Black Panther case exactly right:
For example, there is no evidence that Mr. Shabazz's actions were directed or incited by the party or its national leader; the party essentially repudiated Mr. Shabazz in a posting on its Web site and later suspended the Philadelphia chapter. The second Black Panther at the voting facility was a certified poll watcher and appears not to have verbally or physically attempted to intimidate voters.
Much of the controversy that has surrounded this case for more than a year has been fueled by partisan hyperbole, conspiracy theories and misinformation. Far from acting recklessly, the Justice Department did what every law enforcement entity is ethically obligated to do: press only those charges that are supported by evidence.
The only thing I would add is that it is without question at this point that the case itself was a pet project of voting-section attorneys who had been hired or who were promoted during a time when the Civil Rights Division had been politicized by Bush appointees. The notion that the Civil Rights Division is racist because it's focused on protecting the rights of minorities is rather ahistorical -- the division was established by President Dwight Eisenhower precisely because black people's rights weren't being protected without federal intervention.
That things have changed in the past 50 years is as obvious as looking at the White House, but if you're the kind of person that sees federal intervention on behalf of minorities as "the real racism," then the very existence of the Civil Rights Division is going to be abhorrent. That's the actual perspective most conservative critics of the division are coming from.
