A federal judge has scheduled oral arguments for Jan. 24 to determine if the Texas Legislature approved a voter ID law in 2011 with the intent to discriminate against minorities. The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last month that Texas’ voter ID law had a discriminatory effect, but said a lower court judge overreached in finding that lawmakers had a discriminatory intent in passing the measure. However, the federal appeals court instructed U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos to revisit the issue.
Ramos, in a two-page order Thursday, rejected arguments from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that she should back off the discriminatory intent claim until the Legislature has a chance to fine-tune the voter ID law when lawmakers come back to Austin. Paxton’s office proposed a schedule for the intent claim in which the first set of briefs would be filed on June 28 — 30 full days after the Legislature’s regular session is set to end.
Texas also argued its plan to appeal the 5th Circuit’s ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court should halt the lower court from moving forward with the discriminatory intent claim (State’s filing on the issue here & plaintiff’s filing here). Ramos also rebuffed that argument.
Full Article: Judge sets oral arguments to determine if Texas intended to discrminate with voter ID law – San Antonio Express-News.