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Here a few sources for the story:
- NBCDFW: Federal Court Strikes Down 'Discriminatory' Texas Voter ID Law.
- Huffington Post: Federal Appeals Court Rules Texas Voter ID Law Violates Voting Rights Act.
- Dallas Morning News: Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals says Texas voter ID law violates Voting Rights Act.
From the Huffington Post:
A federal appeals court on Wednesday found that Texas’ strict voter identification law violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, in a victory for civil rights groups who had challenged the law.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit did not make a determination as to whether Texas legislators had a discriminatory purpose in passing the legislation, and sent that issue back to a lower federal court to re-evaluate the determination that it was purposefully discriminatory. But the appeals court did find that the Texas voter ID law would have a discriminatory impact, in violation of the Voting Rights Act.
In declining to find Texas legislators had a discriminatory purpose in passing the legislation, members of the appeals court said they recognized “the charged nature of accusations of racism, particularly against a legislative body,” but they also acknowledged “the sad truth that racism continues to exist in our modern American society despite years of laws designed to eradicate it.”
Because it found a violation of the Voting Rights Act, the federal appeals court declined to decide the question of whether the strict voter ID law violated constitutional rights under the First and 14th Amendments, and dismissed the claims. The court also suggested that a lower federal court could either reinstate voter registration cards as documents that allow someone to cast a ballot, or allow someone to sign an affidavit saying they do not have an acceptable form of identification before they were allowed to vote.
“We urge the parties to work cooperatively with the district court to provide a prompt resolution of this matter to avoid election eve uncertainties and emergencies,” the appeals court wrote.
This applies to both 2305 and 2306. The latter mostly because it highlights areas of conflict between the national and state governments. Texas is being made accountable to stipulations established in national law - the Voting Rights Act - which it tends it not like.
Some class topics illustrated in this story:
- voting rights
- disparate treatment
- disparate impact
