Right-wing activists Jacob #Wohl and Jack #Burkman’s #robocalls targeting Black voters violated the Voting Rights Act and Ku Klux Klan Act — and the question isn’t close enough to require a jury, a federal judge ruled.

The Court recognizes that the free exchange of ideas on issues of public concern and the ability to engage in robust political discussion constitute the foundations of a democratic society,” Senior U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero wrote in a 111-page order on Wednesday.

Marrero nonetheless found that the evidence “establishes that the neighborhoods that Defendants targeted were not accidental or random,” finding that a reasonable jury couldn’t escape the conclusion that the pair wanted to “deny the right to vote specifically to Black voters.”

The ruling spells victory without a trial for The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation ( #NCBCP ), a civil rights group that sued Wohl and Burkman in the Southern District of New York before the 2020 presidential election.

#vra #kkk #votingrights

https://lawandcrime.com/2020-election/right-wing-hoaxers-robocalls-targeting-black-voters-violated-voting-rights-act-and-kkk-act-federal-judge-rules/