Supreme Court Be Damned: DOJ Serves Texas a Lawsuit Over Voter I.D. Law

Townhall.com ^ | August 22, 2013 | Katie Pavlich

[Kaslin]

The Department of Justice has served up a Texas sized lawsuit over the Lone Star State's voter identification law, something Attorney General Eric Holder has been warning about since it was signed into law in May 2011.

The Justice Department said Thursday that it will file a new lawsuit against Texas to try to block the state's voter ID law.

“Today’s action marks another step forward in the Justice Department’s continuing effort to protect the voting rights of all eligible Americans,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement accompanying the announcement of the lawsuit.

"We will not allow the Supreme Court’s recent decision to be interpreted as open season for states to pursue measures that suppress voting rights."

Supreme Court be damned. The issuing of the lawsuit is bold considering the Supreme Court just struck down parts of the Voting Rights Act, resulting in states like Texas being able to make voting decisions at a local level.

The court's 5-4 ruling in the case from Alabama frees states and municipalities with a history of racial discrimination from having to clear changes in voting procedures with the federal government. That restriction has applied to nine states and parts of six others, mostly in the South.

Three weeks ago, voter integrity group True the Vote issued a statement knowing DOJ was preparing to issue a lawsuit.

 “We will not sit idly by and allow the most politically charged Department of Justice in US history to set aside the US constitution and attempt to bully the people of Texas", True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht said.  "We will meet Attorney General Holder in court and we will do whatever we need to do to advance the cause of voters’ rights for all Americans.”

“General Holder’s announcement today demonstrates just how radical the DOJ has become. The same department that criminalizes journalism and fails to prosecute IRS agents who violate the rights of American taxpayers is promising to sue states with taxpayer dollars to block laws passed by elected legislators such as voter ID and citizenship verification.

“Every American voter deserves to have his or her vote counted - and not diluted by fraud or error. The DOJ just put itself between the voters of Texas and their guaranteed constitutional and civil rights.

“True the Vote has watched as Attorney General Eric Holder has repeatedly disregarded the rule of law,” Engelbrecht continued.  "We understand that this Department of Justice does not believe that protection of voters’ rights should be colorblind.

“Texas will stand its ground in San Antonio – that’s a promise.”

I'll leave you with Former Democratic Congressman Artur Davis, who has since switched to being a Republican, on how voter i.d. laws do not disenfranchise minority voters as Holder claims.

Fmr. Democratic Rep. Davis: Voter ID Laws DO NOT Disenfranchise Minorities

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Texas should immediately petition that the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas (San Antonio), dismiss the Just Us Department’s lawsuit as frivolous. Currently it has a 10 Republican appointed judge to 5 Democrat appointed judge balance.

Ironically, that is about the same balance as has the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which the Just Us Department would have to appeal to if the Western District Court dismissed the case.

From there, an appeal would go to Justice Scalia.

[Defiant]

I think they need to have the DOJ sanctioned as a vexatious litigant.

[Ray76]

Voter ID protects the rights of voters - from dilution!

This Holder character needs to be thrown in jail.

[Regulator]

Holder is still there?

Why?

[Logical me]

America is finished. Hope it’s people like dictatorship. Nothing to stop it including the GOP.

[IronJack]

They’re messin’ with Texas.

Expect resistance.

[Elsie]

“Texas will stand its ground in San Antonio – that’s a promise.”

“Texas will stand its ground in San Antonio – that’s a promise.”

Remember the ALAMO Declaration!

---

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,

 that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,

 that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--

 

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men,

 deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --

 

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends,

 it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,

 laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form,

 as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

 

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes;

 and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable,

 than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

 

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design

 to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government,

 and to provide new Guards for their future security.--

 

Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies;

 and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.

 

The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations,

 all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.

 

To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

[Elsie]

You wuz ol’ school.

We b New School

[Grams A]

So much for Holder appreciating Abbott joining him to stop the merger of American and US Air. Don’t recall Abbott weighing in on the merger of Continental with United and the move to Chicago.

Politics results in such strange bedfellows.

[Conscience of a Conservative]

The DOJ filed this action in the Southern District of Texas. Absent some reason to transfer this case to the Western District (I can’t think of any, and given the makeup of the court, the DOJ would most certainly oppose such a move), Texas cannot move to dismiss the action in any court other than the Southern District.

[Lurking Libertarian]

DOJ determines what interpretation of a decision is? SCOTUS does that. Slap DOJ with an injunction.

No, the article is misleading. There are two relevant sections of the Voting Rights Act: one permits the DOJ to sue any state if its voting laws are discriminatory; the other required certain states to get DOJ approval before changing voting laws. SCOTUS struck down the second but explicitly upheld the first (indeed, it said the second section wasn't needed because of the existence of the first).

[smokingfrog]

Whatever that is .... it sounds good.

Holder should be impeached!

[servantboy777]

If I were Perry, Dewhurst and Greg Abbott, I’d ignore it.

They do it....why not us.

[fella]

Hopefully this turns out better than the last time someone said that.

Actually, in the long run it turned out pretty good . . .

[tbw2]

Heck, ID is necessary to buy Sudafed anywhere and nail polish remover at CVS.

[Paul Ross]

The actual statement by Holder after translating the deceitfulness is:

“We will not allow the Supreme Court’s recent decision to allow states to pursue measures that DEFEND voting rights of REAL voters, and undercut our agenda of ILLEGAL VOTERS.”

[Defiant]

In some states, if people file a lot of meritless lawsuits that keep getting thrown out, you can file a motion to have them declared a “vexatious litigant”. If the court agrees, they can then be forced to get permission from the court before filing any new lawsuits, and may be required to post a bond and pay attorney fees if they do. That’s what the DOJ should have to do.

[stevie_d_64]

As a presiding judge in a polling location here in Texas, I can say that our precinct has had a long success of not having too many disruptions, or shinanigans trying to be pulled while I have been on watch...

That being said, what this State law does is provide not only individual voter protection, but it WILL identify, very clearly where voter fraud IS being conducted by the democrat party presiding judge and their clerks...

That’s why I have been poll watching when I can during the primaries, encouraging others to get in there and volunteer to WATCH, or be the alternate judge in precincts that are known to be troublesome...

What gets me is that there are not enough strong-willed, scrappy and intelligent young men out there to do this...

Even though I support those who have the time and are willing to do this in their latter years...The time for sending little deminutive older ladies to do the poll watching and other official oversight jobs as clerks and judges...

We need some people who are visibly very intimidating to the actual people who are running the show in those trouble precincts!!!

And this needs to be a trend nationwide!!!

Remind you, that it WILL get ugly, and those who are willing to do this need to be able to remain cool, collected, and not be intimidated by the liberal/democrat party machine that IS conducting these voter registration AND actual voter fraud!!!

We need to be able to shine the light more and more on this practice...

And Texas is in the democrats sights...They do not know who they are messing with...This is how they are setting us up for massive deception and fraud in 2014...

I believe it is past time for Texas to tell Washington to take a long walk of a short pier...(to put it nicely)