Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)-Weekend Contributor
I can still remember the first time I voted in a National election. I was a young, 18-year-old student and I could finally have a say in who was going to run the country. It was a proud day for me and the countless other 18 year olds who were also voting for the first time. I can honestly say that I have not missed voting in any election since. That includes both primary and general elections. There wasn’t always a lot to vote for in some of those primaries over the years, but I consider voting a duty, so I made sure that I made it to the polls.
It hasn’t always been easy for all citizens to cast their vote. Even in my lifetime, the Jim Crow laws of the South made it difficult, at best for African-Americans citizens to register and to cast their ballots. After years of protests and legal battles, I thought the Jim Crow style of voter suppression was a thing of the past. It turns out I was wrong. Very wrong.
Over the last several years, attempts have been made, some successfully, to suppress votes and strike legal voters from the registered voter lists, all in an attempt to prevent certain voters from casting their votes. We all remember the infamous measures taken by the Florida Secretary of State to attempt to turn the result of the Presidential election between Al Gore and George W. Bush. At least from that point forward, numerous legislative and executive actions on the State level have been brought, all in an attempt to make it difficult for people to register and to vote.
The most recent attempts at voter suppression revolve around the so-called Voter ID laws that have been put into place in several states allegedly to prevent the unproven concern of voter fraud. The fact that these voter ID laws have been promoted by one political party, even caught the idea of a prominent Republican appointed Federal Appellate Court judge.
I am talking about Justice Richard Posner, who is an appellate court judge appointed by Ronald Reagan to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. This very same Judge Posner was responsible for the seminal case approving the country’s first Voter ID law.
“It is a dissent, released on Friday, written by Judge Richard Posner, the Reagan-appointed 7th Circuit Court of Appeals judge who was the one who approved the first such Photo ID law in the country (Indiana’s) back in 2008, in the landmark Crawford v. Marion County case which went all the way to the Supreme Court, where Posner’s ruling was affirmed.
If there was ever evidence that a jurist could change their mind upon review of additional subsequent evidence, this is it. If there was ever a concise and airtight case made against Photo ID laws and the threat they pose to our most basic right to vote, this is it. If there was ever a treatise revealing such laws for the blatantly partisan shell games that they are, this is it.
His dissent includes a devastating response to virtually every false and/or disingenuous rightwing argument/talking point ever put forth in support of Photo ID voting restrictions, describing them as “a mere fig leaf for efforts to disenfranchise voters likely to vote for the political party that does not control the state government.” ‘ Salon
While I do not always agree with Judge Posner’s decisions, this dissent is even more important knowing it was written by a Judge who had recently approved of a similar Voter/Photo ID law. Not to mention that at least one organization considers Judge Posner the most widely cited legal scholar of out time. Just how did Judge Posner attack the underpinnings of the Photo/Voter ID laws in the linked dissent?
“But it was written, largely, in response to the Appellate Court ruling last week by rightwing Judge Frank Easterbrook which contained one embarrassing falsehood and error after another, including the canards about Photo ID being required to board airplanes, open bank accounts, buy beer and guns, etc. We took apart just that one paragraph of Easterbrook’s ruling last week here, but Posner takes apart his colleague’s entire, error-riddled mess of a ruling in this response.
Amongst my favorite passages (and there are so many), this one [emphasis added]…
According to an Al-Jazeera report, it’s a sentiment that the staffers at Third Sector Development are expressing. The nonprofit organization was on a mission to register as many black and Hispanic people in the state of Georgia as possible so that voter turnout for the upcoming midterm elections in November would be high. And they were successful at it, until they received word that about half of the applications they submitted for processing have gone missing in action.
“Over the last few months, the group submitted some 80,000 voter-registration forms to the Georgia secretary of state’s office—but as of last week, about half those new registrants, more than 40,000 Georgians, were still not listed on preliminary voter rolls. And there is no public record of those 40,000-plus applications, according to state Rep. Stacey Adams, a Democrat,” Al-Jazeera explained.” Crooks and Liars
The word Whoops comes to mind when I read about 40,000 “lost” registration forms. But the loss couldn’t be related to politics, could it? However, Georgia isn’t the only recent example of voter suppression that might make Judge Posner even more upset at voter suppression measures.
Recently we heard about a Koch Brothers sponsored or supported group sending out intentionally false voting information designed to confuse voters in North Carolina. Well it seems that the Americans For Prosperity have now set their voter suppression sights on my home state of Illinois.
“First it was North Carolina, now it’s Illinois. Same pattern of voter suppression by fraudulent mailing, too.
Joan McCarter at Daily Kos:
The Kochs’ Americans for Prosperity must have decided they need to do some “voter information” in what’s an awfully tight race for governor in Illinois. According to the Daily Kos Elections Outlook, there’s about a 4-point spread between Democratic incumbent Pat Quinn and Republican Bruce Rauner. Enter AFP to try to create a little chaos in the election. And like in North Carolina, where they sent hundreds of thousands of fraudulent mailers, they’re upsetting people by sending mailers to their dead loved ones.
DECATUR – It’s not uncommon for residents such as Maryilynn Baer to receive political mail before the general election.
But when recent letter came to her home that asked for her husband, Edgar, to re-register to vote before the November election, Baer was overwhelmed and upset.
Her husband had been dead since May.
“It was upsetting,” she said. “His name had already been taken off the voter registration list, and I sent the letter to (Macon County Clerk) Steve Bean and told him I had already notified him that Edgar had passed away.”
See, the mailer made it seem like it had one from County Clerk Bean. All over the state, people have been calling their county clerks to find out if they really do have to re-register, because all of the mailings from AFP are meant to look like they’re coming from elections officials. They’re also wondering why their dead relatives are getting these letters, because they’re going to a lot of deceased people. Which means elections officials are having to make a lot of apologies, even though they’re not responsible for the confusion. Says Shelby County Clerk Jessica Fox, “[w]e would never do anything, for lack of a better term, as tacky as to open up these old wounds.” ‘ Crooks and Liars
Whether it is done by legislatures under the guise of alleged, and as Judge Posner suggests, non-existent voter fraud, or by State executive branch officials as in the case of Georgia, or by partisan organizations funded by conservative billionaires, the result is the same. Legal citizens with the right to vote are being denied that right.
When will the mass media wake up to the canard of voter fraud being foisted upon the American public? Judge Posner’s stick in the eye approach just might even convince the Roberts Court. Then again, we just may be in the throes of a high-tech Jim Crow, Part Two campaign that impacts not only minorities, but also WASP voters who just happen to register as a Democrat or with a Democratic leaning organization. If these photo ID’s are so important, why do some of the states using them, outlaw student ID cards from local universities and colleges, but accept gun license cards that do not have a photo?
If they believe in their principles and ideas, why are these illegal and immoral tactics necessary? What do you think?
“The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.”
@DocMad
You asked, “why do i think nothing would make cruz and paul happier?”
Uh, because you are a partisan Democratic idealogue???
Uh, because you believe all the crap you read on Democratic websites???
Uh, because you watch MSNBC instead of FOX News???
Uh, because George Soros is paying you to think it???
Uh, because you fail to listen to smart people like me???
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
mespo
rumblings about boyfriends of the two nurses.
why do i think nothing would make cruz and paul happier?
🙂
http://thenewsdoctors.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/EBOLA-1.jpg
@Annie
Oh, I know what happened! Youse guys thought when you put an old lady video up, we would all be paying more attention to her being an old lady, and we would just ignore what she was saying. Oops! The best laid plans! Well, for relevance, (and Democrats ) you might just as well put up the lame puppy video. With the implied message being, “Oh why are you mean old Republicans for Photo ID when it has obviously upset this poor lame crying puppy!” All the while, you are out of sight and jabbing it with a stick.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Maybe that’s the topic for next weekend.
Dallas hospital workers to be cleared from quarantine tomorrow. Cruise ship passenger cleared to travel. No signs of Ebola on airline passengers of flight where Dallas nurse traveled after being cleared by CDC.
OMG the Ebola is going to kill us chicken littles and Obama is to blame.
Right wing suckers. One born every minute.
http://www.carternendick.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Grandma-crying.jpg
Sqeeky,
Your granny is very upset that you were so disrespectful to that nice old lady in the video.
Olly and Sweeks
Now we know how you feel about old women. How are you with lame puppies?
mespo
Tigers are beautiful animals – admired by all.
Can’t say the same for the poachers.
@Olly
I can just imagine one of them putting that old lady on the stand to give testimony, and the look on their faces when a judge struck the whole thing as irrelevant. Sadly, the honest ones among them they tend to get lost in the emotion and warmth and fuzziness. However, the dishonest partisan shills among them know exactly what a load of crap they are peddling.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Squeeky,
Can you imagine any of them taking on the task of arguing for the opposition? Their heads might explode.
The Supreme Court prohibits protesters from the plaza in front of the Court. They didn’t have any problem with allowing abortion protesters a shorter distance from clinics.
Heads up everyone –
Inconsistencies abound in the United States – always have.
After one particularly bad day in court, I sulked back to the office to be met by the senior partner at the doorway. “I lost,” I whined as I closed the car door. “I know” came the reply, “The judge called.”(He was the former law partner of my boss). “Did he say I blew it?” I asked not really wanting an answer. “No, he said you fought like a tiger, but the facts weren’t there for you.”
“Well I still got clobbered,” I lamented. Then came the remark I’ve always remembered: “Look, Mark I can teach you how to win but no one can teach you how to be fearless. You taught yourself that. Don’t forget it. Your clients expect that and will remember that.”
And so they do.
Thanks.
Mr. Rafferty,
May I say this is one of the best articles I have seen written. I appreciate the topic. Thank you again
@Olly
It is a really difficult task to turn something as simple as a Photo ID into a scary, sinister bogeyman. Particularly when Judge Posner himself is passing his judgements in a building that you can’t get into without a Photo ID. Bwahahahaha!
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
My comments were upthread; have you read them?
Maybe next weekend he can give us a rundown of all the great things POTUS has accomplished this year. I’ll set aside 30 seconds for it.
Olly,
Was the Republican appointed Appellate judge Richard Posner slanted in his dissent against voter/photo ID? The same judge who approved the very first voter ID case? Did you read the full dissent? It is very good reading.
Prayer
We are unable to offer any rescue. Everyone must be willing to make some sacrifice.