Hours after the Supreme Court in 2013 struck down a core part of the Voting Rights Act, Texas put into effect a law that threatened to disenfranchise more than 600,000 registered voters. The Justice Department had blocked the law two years earlier as discriminatory, and a three-judge panel in Washington agreed that it put “unforgiving burdens on the poor.” Texans who lacked driver’s licenses had to take certified copies of their birth certificates to motor-vehicle offices to obtain new photo ID cards, sometimes a trip of more than 100 miles. Even though the high court’s ruling ended the department’s ability to prevent the law from taking effect, a federal district court judge in 2014 struck it down for discriminating against minorities. Last year, a U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals panel upheld that decision in a 3-0 opinion, written by a judge appointed by President George W. Bush. Yet the Texas law still stands.
Seemingly untouched by numerous legal defeats, the voter ID law serves as an example of how difficult it can be to halt potentially discriminatory voting rules in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby County vs. Holder.
“This is a perfect illustration of what we lost,” said Jon Greenbaum, chief counsel for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “We have seven judges who looked at this and all found a violation. Yet the law is still in effect.”
The Supreme Court has refused to intervene so far. On the eve of the 2014 elections, the justices by a 6-3 vote declined to block enforcement of the photo ID rule pending the state’s appeal, as did the 5th Circuit, despite its own panel’s ruling.
Full Article: Texas photo ID law stands despite challenges since Supreme Court ruling weakened Voting Rights Act – LA Times.
