Pennsylvania Judge STRIKES DOWN State's VOTER ID LAW

[Segami]

HARRISBURG -- A Pennsylvania judge has found the state's voter ID law unconstitutional. According to the ruling from Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard McGinley, the requirement to present an acceptable form of identification when voting in person "unreasonably burdens the right to vote." The requirement was challenged in court after Republican legislators passed it and Gov. Tom Corbett signed it into law by in March 2012. Opponents of the law celebrated the decision. House Democrats noted that their members had uniformly opposed the law.



Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills, said his members were pleased. “Senate Democrats have said clearly and repeatedly that the voter ID law was an overreach that would result in the disenfranchisement of hundreds of thousands of voters," he said in a written statement. "It was a law that should have never been approved and we are very happy that the court turned aside the measure today."



He called the law a clear effort by Republicans to limit participation in Pennsylvania elections. "Simply put, it was an effort by Republicans to deny citizens access and a voice in their government that should have been dismissed," Mr. Costa said in the statement. "Instead of trying to find ways to stop citizens from voting, we should be doing more to encourage all Pennsylvanians to participate in elections."



cont'

http://www.post-gazette.com/news/state/2014/01/17/AP-Pennsylvania-judge-strikes-down-state-s-voter-ID-law/stories/201401170131

[bigdarryl]

1. OH YEAH!!!!!

[global1]

2. This Movement To Strike Down Voter ID Laws Needs To Catch On In Other States.....

What can be done to facilitate that?

[Walk away]

5. ^^^yes what can we do?^^^

[WorseBeforeBetter]

7. Moral Mondays.

It started in NC, has spread to GA, evidently:



http://clatl.com/freshloaf/archives/2014/01/15/moral-monday-georgia-undaunted-by-rain-kicks-off-outside-gold-dome

[Liberal_Dog]

3. Huge K & R

This is wonderful news.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

4. Emailing Governor McCrookie in North Carolina...

with a little love note...

http://www.governor.state.nc.us/contact/email-pat



It's not going to stand in North Carolina, either, muthasucka.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

6. Whoa, did I miss something?

Is that man having some sort of episode?

[WorseBeforeBetter]

8. That's our Patsy.

I don't know why he looks so unhinged in that bottom right pic, but the top one sums him up perfectly. Wanted to steal some of Jan "Finger-wagging" Brewer's thunder... North Carolina WILL NOT go unrecognized!

[louis-t]

12. Why is there always a smiling wife

when these crazies are caught with a hysterical look on their faces? Also, it appears hounds-tooth is back in style.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

18. Ha. The classics are *always* in style.

I believe that's Sharon Decker, Secretary of Administration. I don't know much about her, i.e., where she fits in on the Republican/Teabagger scale.

Our First Lady is supposedly fighting puppy mills (shut 'em down!), but beyond that, she seems MIA.

[Progressive dog]

21. She's just trying to calm him down,

or maybe she thinks his temper tantrums are funny.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. Will most likely be appealed to the State Supreme Court (again)

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/pa_voter_id_struck_down

But as long as it's tied up in court, it's not being enforced!

[libodem]

10. Finally some good news

Thank the Goddess! Woo Hoo!

That's Sofa-King cool.....

[Gothmog]

11. 103 page opinion

I have printed it for later reading

[hrmjustin]

13. K&R!

[spanone]

14. k&r... wish we had an honest judge in tennessee

[Divernan]

15. Plaintiffs favored to win if Gov. Corbett takes appeal to state supreme court.

Calling Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard L. McGinley's opinion Friday morning an indictment of the law, the ACLU's Vic Walczak said the ruling showed that in fact hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians would not have been able to get a valid ID and there was no proof such a law was needed. "When we put the Commonwealth's claims about in-person voter fraud to the test, they were unable to meet the test," Walczak said. "They couldn't even get out of the starting blocks. . .All I say is I'd rather be defending this opinion on appeal than going after it," Walczak said.

Friday's ruling will likely not be the end this case. It's already been through two trials, and been appealed to the Supreme Court, which sent it down for another hearing. If the Commonwealth does appeal, the plaintiffs feel the strong, clear ruling by McGinley, a Democrat, will be beneficial.

"The Commonwealth has already spent millions of dollars on what the court called a misinformation campaign and legal expenses," said Ben Geffen, Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia. "If the Commonwealth has a surplus of of funds available, perhaps they could devote it to voter registration efforts or better funding of public schools instead of continuing to litigate against voters rights to participate in elections."

The plaintiff's attorneys said their are still reviewing MgGinley's ruling, but they believe it will require the state to remove any voter ID-related billboards and literature

.

Bernie McGinley is an excellent judge and Corbett would be a fool to appeal this. But Corbett is as stubborn as he is vindictive and he HATES to lose - so he'll take another in his long history of no-win appeals. You all recall that GOP Gov. Corbett was the state attorney general who ignored the Jerry Sandusky scandal for several years while Corbett was sucking up to Penn State alumni to fund his upcoming governor's campaign. He is truly a crap lawyer - known to be lazy and not too bright by attys. working for him in the AG's office. He started out his legal career - after graduating (with NO honors) from a 4th rate (i.e., bottom of the academic barrel) Texas law school, as counsel for mob-linked Waste Management.

[MadrasT]

16. WOO HOO!!!!

Awesome news!!!

[brett_jv]

17. Take THAT you F*****S!!!

This is awesome news.

If this goes to the Supreme's and they end up striking down the law, does that mean all the other states with basically the same Voter ID laws (courtesy of our friends at ALEC?) will have to repeal theirs as well?

[Divernan]

20. No, this would be the state of PA's Supreme Court, ruling ONLY on PA's law.

The voter ID laws are particular to and within individual states, and even though originally drafted by ALEC, The American Legislative Exchange Council, they have been modified by the GOP legislatures in their own states. However, whatever opinion ends up as the final one in this case (depending on whether or not an appeal is taken from this opinion), the Pennsylvania judge's(Commonwealth Court)/judges' (PA Supreme Court) opinion could be quoted in legal arguments in other states - but it would not be binding.

The ACLU and other plaintiffs' organizations did a magnificent job of putting together massive amounts of evidence demonstrating (1) Pennsylvania had a de minimus problem historically with voter ID fraud in the polling place and (2)the nearly insurmountable burden on tens of thousands of voters which would prevent them from complying with the proposed voter ID law.

[JPZenger]

19. Here's information on just how burdensome these requirements were for some Pennsylvanians

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10744378