Courts & Law

The GOP war on voting in the D.C. Circuit Court

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

On Monday, a panel of federal Judges on the D.C. Circuit Court began trial of the case of the U.S. Department of Justice challenge to the Texas voter photo ID requirement. POLITICO reports Texas voter ID trial opens:

The case, which could make its way to the Supreme Court, is the first major federal court showdown in this election cycle over a series of laws Republican-controlled state legislatures have approved that require voters to show photo identification at the polls.

In March, the Justice Department Civil Rights Division refused to clear the Texas law, known as Senate Bill 14, saying Texas officials had failed to prove that it wouldn’t adversely affect minorities.

As the trial got under way in a packed courtroom, DOJ trial attorney Elizabeth Westfall went even further, arguing that the federal government will show racial motivation in Texas’s passage of the law.

“The facts will convincingly demonstrate the discriminatory purpose and effect of Senate Bill 14,” Westfall told the three-judge panel in her brief opening argument in a trial expected to last through Friday.

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The law, signed by Republican Gov. Rick Perry in May 2011, requires nearly all voters to show photo ID when voting in person. Most forms of state-issued photo ID, including driver’s licenses and firearms permits, are accepted. However, student IDs from Texas state universities are not.

Last year, South Carolina passed a similar law, which the Justice Department also rejected. South Carolina has also filed suit, but that case has yet to come to trial.

Under federal law, lawsuits seeking so-called “pre-clearance” of changes to voting procedures in all of seven mostly Southern states and parts of nine others, are heard by three-judge panels composed of two district court judges and an appeals court judge. D.C. Circuit Judge David Tatel and District Court Judges Rosemary Collyer and Robert Wilkins were selected to hear the Texas voter ID case.

Conservative icon says the GOP has become “goofy”

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Posted by AzBlieMeanie:

Not the word I would have used; "goofy" implies silly and is benign. Radical, extreme, and dangerous are far more accurate descriptions. Maybe he had the Birthers im mind.

Richard Posner, a judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, has long been considering a leading conservative legal thinker and is an icon of the right. Even he has had enough of the modern-day GOP. Richard Posner Drifting To The Left?:

[I]n an interview with NPR yesterday, Richard Posner said:

“There’s been a real deterioration in conservative thinking. And that has to lead people to re-examine and modify their thinking. ”I’ve become less conservative since the Republican Party started becoming goofy.”

Although Posner has never been considered a party-line conservative, he was a Reagan nominee considered ideologically solid enough to be a possible Supreme Court candidate in the Bush administration——albeit not enough to actually be nominated. Posner also has a huge amount of influence on American legal thought as one of the most widely cited judges and legal scholars in the country. It’s not that Posner’s comments will sway votes, after all he’s not exactly a celebrity. But the people paying attention to him will shape the direction of the law for decades to come. And if a leading conservative thinker has lost respect for the GOP, that’s worth noticing.

UPDATE: Apparently Judge Posner was more illuminating than this one quote. Crooksandliars.com has the audio file, Reagan-Appointed Judge: Republican 'Lunatics' Made Me Less Conservative:

Chief Justice Roberts Has His Cake, Eats It, Feeds It To His Corporate Masters, Then Smears Delicious Frosting All Over Romney, by Upholding the ACA

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By Michael Bryan John Roberts has performed a brilliant political maneuver in his opinion crafted to uphold the ACA, though he'll get little credit from the crazy wing of the GOP (which is most of it…). He allowed a deeply conservative policy, which the GOP has backed for a generation and the corporate health care … Read more

President Obama’s statement on ACA opinion

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Transcript of Remarks by the President on Supreme Court Ruling on the Affordable Care Act | The White House (video below the fold):

Remarks by the President on Supreme Court Ruling on the Affordable Care Act

East Room

12:15 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Good afternoon.  Earlier today, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act — the name of the health care reform we passed two years ago.  In doing so, they've reaffirmed a fundamental principle that here in America — in the wealthiest nation on Earth – no illness or accident should lead to any family’s financial ruin. 

I know there will be a lot of discussion today about the politics of all this, about who won and who lost.  That’s how these things tend to be viewed here in Washington.  But that discussion completely misses the point.  Whatever the politics, today’s decision was a victory for people all over this country whose lives will be more secure because of this law and the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold it.

And because this law has a direct impact on so many Americans, I want to take this opportunity to talk about exactly what it means for you. 

First, if you’re one of the more than 250 million Americans who already have health insurance, you will keep your health insurance — this law will only make it more secure and more affordable.  Insurance companies can no longer impose lifetime limits on the amount of care you receive.  They can no longer discriminate against children with preexisting conditions.  They can no longer drop your coverage if you get sick.  They can no longer jack up your premiums without reason.  They are required to provide free preventive care like check-ups and mammograms — a provision that's already helped 54 million Americans with private insurance.  And by this August, nearly 13 million of you will receive a rebate from your insurance company because it spent too much on things like administrative costs and CEO bonuses, and not enough on your health care. 

There’s more.  Because of the Affordable Care Act, young adults under the age of 26 are able to stay on their parent's health care plans — a provision that's already helped 6 million young Americans.  And because of the Affordable Care Act, seniors receive a discount on their prescription drugs — a discount that's already saved more than 5 million seniors on Medicare about $600 each.