Philadelphia Inquirer: No Sign Of Wrongful Dismissal in Black Panther Case

While Fox News seems to think the recent claims that an alleged voter intimidation case involving Black Panther Party members in Philadelphia was wrongly dismissed, the top local newspaper there seems to disagree.

The Philadelphia Inquirer on Friday ran an editorial that stated the dismissal of the case stemming from alleged actions on Election Day 2008 appears to be valid.

“Some critics say Obama and his black attorney general, Eric Holder, were lenient because they are biased,” the editorial stated. “These critics equate the New Black Panther Party to the Ku Klux Klan in its heyday. In fact, the group is more accurately described by Abigail Thernstrom, longtime Republican member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, as a 'lunatic fringe.'

”That's not to say small hate groups aren't dangerous. But the scale of justice must be applied appropriately, and here it appears that it was. Attempts to inflate the incident to bash Obama must be seen for what they are."

Inquirer Editor Bill Marimow, meanwhile, said his paper has covered the recent claims by former Justice Department Attorney J. Christian Adams and his testimony before the U.S. Civil Rights Commission. But he sees no reason to investigate them further.

“My instincts tell me that it shouldn't be a cause celeb,” said Marimow, editor since 2006. “It isn't something that should be trumpeted on the front pages of America's newspapers day after day.”

Asked if it requires more in-depth reporting to see if Adams' claims are true, Marimow added, “We haven't covered it intensively and we are not. I am generally guided by the reporters on the beat and if they tell me it needs to be looked at more closely, we would do that. That hasn't happened.”