October 10, 2014

U.S. Supreme Court keeps Wisconsin voter ID law from applying to next month's elections.

The NYT headline for this story is really bad: "Courts Strike Down Voter ID Laws in Wisconsin and Texas." The news about the Wisconsin law isn't that a court struck the law down, though a federal district judge did find the law unconstitutional back in April. The news that just happened was that the U.S. Supreme Court has vacated the 7th Circuit's stay of the district court's injunction. This was done in order to give the state time to petition the Supreme Court to hear the case.

Here's the PDF. It ends this way:
Should the petition for a writ of certiorari be denied, this order shall terminate automatically. In the event the petition for a writ of certiorari is granted, the order shall terminate upon the sending down of the judgment of this Court
The period is missing in the original, I thought you'd like to know. Some indication of haste?

Anyway, as you can see, the Court isn't striking anything down. It's just preventing the 7th Circuit's resolution of the case from going into effect until the Supreme Court either decides it won't hear the case or actually decides the case. If it doesn't take the case, the 7th Circuit's decision will prevail, and the voter ID law will go back into effect. If it takes the case, it might very well uphold the 7th Circuit's decision and the voter ID law will go back into effect.

Justice Alito, joined by Justices Scalia and Thomas, dissents on the ground that the standard for vacating a stay has not been met because it can't be said that the 7th Circuit "clearly and ‘demonstrably’ erred in its application of ‘accepted standards.'" But they nevertheless acknowledge the point of vacating the stay in this case:
There is a colorable basis for the Court’s decision due to the proximity of the upcoming general election. It is particularly troubling that absentee ballots have been sent out without any notation that proof of photo identification must be submitted. 
So there's such a good reason for keeping the law from applying to the upcoming elections, and vacating the stay is less of an indication that the court below got wrong than would normally be the case.

64 comments:

Curious George said...

Awesome! Now all the people garage came up with that don't have and couldn't get photo ID (none) can vote, as well as the twenty illegal aliens, none who could speak English, that were in line to vote behind me last time around.

Paul said...

They also did it in Texas.

Coincidence?

Nah.. just Chicago politics.

Birkel said...

Now both madisonfella -and- Inga will be able to vote.

PB said...

It is nonsense NOT to require a picture id to vote. Vote fraud has been proven and likely the few cases they've found mean there are lots more cases that have not been found.

garage mahal said...

Awesome! Now all the people garage came up with that don't have and couldn't get photo ID (none) can vote, as well as the twenty illegal aliens, none who could speak English, that were in line to vote behind me last time around.

LOL. You mad bro? Now Ruthelle Frank can vote.

RecChief said...

how convenient. with no time before the election to do anything about it. Wasn't Wisconsin's law passed in 2011? I know the wheels of justice grind slowly, but this is ridiculous.

khesanh0802 said...

A cynic might ask if some of the people of WI are too stupid to obtain a photo ID?

MadisonMan said...

I'm hoping that there's no change between now and election day. I pity the clerks if there is.

RecChief said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Curious George said...

"garage mahal said...


LOL. You mad bro? Now Ruthelle Frank can vote.

Three years later and no one from the concerned left has lifted a hand to help ole Ruthelle...the one and only suppressed vote in WI.

RecChief said...

Tom Steyer is spending 100 Million dollars to buy elections. He couldn't cut loose $300 to help Ruthelle Frank? In 3 fucking years, no one could help her get a photo ID? I guess her value as a "victim" exceeded that. So relatively well off people who throw away $300 on shit they will send to the landfill in year's time couldn't help her out? Good to know.

I used to be amazed that the Left would spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal fees to "fix" a problem, when they could have spent merely hundreds to actually fix it.

They can find buses, vans, and drivers to move people into protests but they can't use those same resources to get people to the DMV to get a proper ID.

But there is a lesson here for people who are not of the Left. It's never over with these people, so you should prepare to fight for your beliefs forever. On all fronts, culturally, legally, politically.

Curious George said...

With this victory behind them the ACLU and the left can continue their efforts on the unconstitutional requirement of photo ID and how it unfairly effects blacks, hispanics, and the elderly, in the following ways:

wendybar said...

Great...now all the illegals Obama let in can vote!!! WTH is wrong with people in this country that want to throw away the best country in the world and make it a 3rd world country???

Beta Rube said...

Do liberals ever get anything they want that doesn't involve the courts over turning democratically enacted law?

CWJ said...

Curious George,

The last time I checked (ages ago), hands were lifted to help. She slapped them away. Martyrdom is more important than solutions.

CWJ said...

Beta Rubs,

That does seem the pattern, doesn't it?

garage mahal said...

Three years later and no one from the concerned left has lifted a hand to help ole Ruthelle...the one and only suppressed vote in WI.

First you said none. Now it's one? You don't seem to be a very reliable source of information.

DanTheMan said...

>>Great...now all the illegals Obama let in can vote

That's the point. Permanent D majority.

MayBee said...

It is particularly troubling that absentee ballots have been sent out without any notation that proof of photo identification must be submitted.

That is troubling.
It has been the law for quite some time now. Apparently the powers-that-be have discovered if they pretend a law they disagree with doesn't exist, they can get that law de-facto revoked.

Reminds me of the IRS and EPA not following regulations on maintaining records.

CWJ said...

MadisonMan pities the clerks. I have as much pity for them as was shown to the health insurance clerks dealing with Obamacare's arbitrary enrollment extensions and deadlines. Even insurance companies employ actual human beings.

PeterK said...

"It is particularly troubling that absentee ballots have been sent out without any notation that proof of photo identification must be submitted. "

the Wisconsin law requires a photo to be submitted with an absentee ballot? Is that true. Texas doesn't require that.

Mark said...

Yes, Peter, it does require that post ID law.

CWJ said...

The opponents of a law passed years ago have successfully run out the clock.

If the WI and TX laws pass muster after this election, I wonder what new wrinkle will be used to try to run out the clock until the next election.

machine said...

Cheaters gotta cheat....sorry cheaters.

Curious George said...

"garage mahal said...
Three years later and no one from the concerned left has lifted a hand to help ole Ruthelle...the one and only suppressed vote in WI.

First you said none. Now it's one? You don't seem to be a very reliable source of information."

No, you had come up with none the other day.

Mark said...

Maybee it is only after the first ballots were sent when the 7th reinstated the ID law which had been on hold from prior court orders for well over a year.

They would be wasting plenty of time and money if they printed ballots that comply with rules that have not been in place for over a year, you can bet Curious George would be here howling about it daily.

Looking at the recent voting cases out of the Supreme Court, they seem to have weighed in against last minute changes to voting rules despite which way those went. The 7th rushed through changes even as election materials were going out.

I would call it a conservative move if that term wasn't fraught with party implications.

Fernandinande said...

khesanh0802 said...
A cynic might ask if some of the people of WI are too stupid to obtain a photo ID?


One of the people who was previously displayed here as a victim turned out to be a drunk who couldn't be bothered to get an ID.

If people can vote without ID they should also be able to buy guns without ID - enumerated constitutional rights, etc.

garage mahal said...

If people can vote without ID they should also be able to buy guns without ID

You can buy a gun without photo ID.

MayBee said...

Maybee it is only after the first ballots were sent when the 7th reinstated the ID law which had been on hold from prior court orders for well over a year.

But that's part of the problem!
The law was on the books for well over a year. The "conservative" action would have been to prepare to comply with the law, considering the appeals were ongoing.

Skipper said...

Gobblygook. This is just more political authoritarianism from the all-knowing all wise judiciary.

Michael said...

It now appears nearly unanimous that our masters and betters consider African Americans stupid and lazy and incapable. Official. The Democrat party has held this belief for some time.

damikesc said...

So, stretch lawsuits out for years and then, when decided, ignore the decision because it is too confusing so close to the election.

This country is so utterly fucked.

LOL. You mad bro? Now Ruthelle Frank can vote.

Because the entire country is based around making Ruthelle's life easier. Really. Totally is. It's the 1st Amendment of the Constitution, if you decide to honor the penumbras and other such crap.

It's all political gamesmanship, so Wisconsin Republicans will likely keep pushing for some of the strictest id laws in the land

Which were ALREADY found Constitutional in Indiana. But, hey, Progressives totally are for precedent.

Wisconsin used to be proud of their reputation as a "clean" state. Of course, that was before Walker with his national ambitions and need for money opened the state up for sale.

...or shone the flashlight on the sweage Dems tried to cover up.

The future is coming. Will you be able to ride your inheritances forever?

No. But we tend to be armed. If law doesn't matter to you, I don't see why it should matter to us.

Just saying. That's why I am HOPING for riots in Ferguson now.

Looking at the recent voting cases out of the Supreme Court, they seem to have weighed in against last minute changes

It passed long ago.

garage mahal said...

It now appears nearly unanimous that our masters and betters consider African Americans stupid and lazy and incapable.

The lead plaintiff was an elderly white woman. Here is a good fact-check from the ACLU that debunked a bunch of nonsense from the 7th Circuit.

MadisonMan said...

You can buy a gun without photo ID.

That's good to know because I'll shortly be selling a Fox Sterlingworth Double Barrel.

garage mahal said...

Just saying. That's why I am HOPING for riots in Ferguson now

Oh calm down.

tim in vermont said...

This is similar logic to that used by the SCOTUS to shut down Gore's attempted coup by lawfare.

Achilles said...

garage mahal said...
"It now appears nearly unanimous that our masters and betters consider African Americans stupid and lazy and incapable.

The lead plaintiff was an elderly white woman. Here is a good fact-check from the ACLU that debunked a bunch of nonsense from the 7th Circuit."

So your only example of a person who can't get an id is an elderly woman who refused help to get one. And you make the argument that others can't get I'd based on this?

It is clear there is no decent argument against voter ID. The people who oppose it are clearly trying to undermine elections. It is just a matter of time now. A large enough percentage of the population votes for people who promise them other people's money and overlook obvious issues like voter fraud to get that money.

I am also going to point out it is wealthy people pushing this and getting the money. Eventually poor people will find out.

Birkel said...

"Lead plaintiff" means nothing. That' the person the Leftists wished to be the face of the lawsuit but there's no difference between that person and any other who might be the "lead plaintiff".

Meanwhile, the people who wish to cheat now have free run to cheat. Well played, fascists.

cubanbob said...

garage mahal said...

Awesome! Now all the people garage came up with that don't have and couldn't get photo ID (none) can vote, as well as the twenty illegal aliens, none who could speak English, that were in line to vote behind me last time around.

LOL. You mad bro? Now Ruthelle Frank can vote.
10/10/14, 8:07 AM "

Old biddy has been voting illegally since 1948 if you actually bother to read and comprehend the link you provided. She has had decades to get her birth certificate corrected. And it isn't as if photo ID's came only in to existence in the last couple of years so she just didn't get around to getting her photo ID's is her problem and not the rest of society that has an interest in curbing vote fraud. There is no constitutionally enumerated right to vote unlike the enumerated right to bear arms yet look at all the hoops a gun owner has to go through so if the old biddy hadn't bothered herself in 68 years to get her documents in order I don't see a problem here.

lb said...

For the first time in my life, I do believe I am going to get trained in using a firearm and go purchase one. I agree with damikesc, why should anyone follow the law when it obviously just takes one party to push it in court forever to vacate legislation. I have given up - there's no beating Democrats because the people that support them are too stupid to see that their platform encourages producers to stop producing, allows people to cheat in elections (100% and 100%+ voter turn out in favor of Obama in Pennsylvania..can you say statistically impossible?) And they're cool with letting four Americans lose their lives fighting for 7 hours in Benghazi, cool with people being beheaded for their religious beliefs. Such is life - I'll gonna go get some eggs from the chickens and let people who want taxes from me figure out how to get it from someone else.

garage mahal said...

For the first time in my life, I do believe I am going to get trained in using a firearm and go purchase one.

And what, use it on John Roberts?

Michael said...

garage mahal

White democrat old ladies are axiomatically stupid and lazy and incompetent.

Chuck said...

So Althouse is this the same New York Times-influenced media that we should be trusting for news on the battle in the federal courts over state laws concerning same-sex marriage?

Tank said...

The Courts are officially deciding that black people are too stupid to obtain and use picture ID.

They'll probably phrase it differently.

garage mahal said...

Its not fear, its just the distaste of getting defrauded

You can still show your photo ID to your clerk if that's what you want.

I'm sensing a lot of butthurt this morning. Relax. Early voting has been virtually eliminated. There's still hope.

campy said...

Trivia questions of 2034:

1.) Who was the last republican to be governor of Wisconsin?

B.) Who was the last republican to be president of the U.S.?

Answers: Scot Walker; G.W. Bush

Trivia question of 2044:

What was the name of that other political party that used to win elections?

Babaluigi said...

Well, I know that in at least in one certain part of Texas, people who come to vote automatically show their ID, even though it is not "required" by law. They do not see proving their eligibility to vote as a burden. True disenfranchisement would be to have their votes cancelled out by those not actually eligible to vote.

In the past week I have been receiving calls from the state of my former residence informing me of the opportunity to cast my absentee ballot. I suddenly wondered if I had been voting there for all of these years, but I was able to go online and determine that I am an "inactive" voter (whew). I now know it takes sitting out 2 general election cycles (8 years) along with ignoring qualification notices, to be purged from the rolls. I had mistakenly assumed that my registration here would be relayed back to that state where I would be struck from their rolls...my bad. I have not found a formal way to to take care of it otherwise, but I guess I will check back and see if "I" vote this time. If not, the "problem" should, by statute, take care of itself.

..Of course, I really only worry about "me" voting by absentee ballot there, since a photo ID is required at the polls...See how that works?

n.n said...

Disenfranchisement through unaccountability. Democrats never change their spots.

With a multi-trillion dollar welfare economy, there is no logical excuse that any America remain indigent, homeless, or unidentified.

garage mahal said...

Posner: "Some of the 'evidence' of voter-impersonation fraud is downright goofy, if not paranoid, such as the nonexistent buses that according to the 'True the Vote' movement transport foreigners and reservation Indians to polling places," appeals Judge Richard Posner wrote in an opinion joined by four colleagues."

ken in tx said...

I just voted in South Carolina because I will be out-of-state on election day. A photo ID was required. Ironically, my voter registration card would not be accepted because it has no photo.

Unknown said...

Garage you are ignorant, a fucking liar or both. Wisconsin statute 175.35, Waiting Period for Purchase of Handguns:

(2) When a firearms dealer sells a handgun, he or she may not transfer possession of that handgun to any other person until all of the following have occurred:
(a) The transferee has provided identification as required by rule under sub. (2g) (a).

(2g)(a) The department of justice shall promulgate rules prescribing procedures for a transferee to provide and a firearms dealer to inspect identification containing a photograph of the transferee.

Piss off pretender.

garage mahal said...

Piss off pretender

You can buy a gun from unlicensed dealers at gun shows or online without showing identification in 30 states. Wisconsin is one of those 30 states. So piss on yourself, Chucky.

Rusty said...

Birkel said...
Now both madisonfella -and- Inga will be able to vote.

As nmany times as they can too!

Rusty said...

You can buy a gun from unlicensed dealers at gun shows or online without showing identification in 30 states

Is that how you got yours?

There is now an affordable CNC makerbot that will let you finish a raw AR15 casting. Price; $1200.00

Who in the United States today doesn't have some form of ID?

The Crack Emcee said...

Whew! Nice to know this is still America - or bears some resemblance to what it's supposed to be.

Blacks have been saying, all along, we're supposed to be trying to INCREASE voting, not suppressing it. Luckily, Wisconsin's Supremes appear to agree, or at least see the danger to that idea Republicans presented in this election. The fact of American history - that this is a straight-up political move right out of the Jim Crow era - should be disturbing to everyone. But especially to Republicans:

How they ever thought repeatedly painting themselves as the Democrats of the past would change their current image - without triggering that obvious comparison - is a mystery.

History will not be hidden under a hood,...

garage mahal said...

Now both madisonfella -and- Inga will be able to vote.

As nmany times as they can too!


FIRE DON'T MELT STEEL.

Anonymous said...

Garage wrote;

"I'm sensing a lot of butthurt this morning. Relax. Early voting has been virtually eliminated. There's still hope."

You're so giddy today. I was going to ask, what will say when Burke still loses to Walker?

Now I know.

damikesc said...

Posner: "Some of the 'evidence' of voter-impersonation fraud is downright goofy, if not paranoid, such as the nonexistent buses that according to the 'True the Vote' movement transport foreigners and reservation Indians to polling places," appeals Judge Richard Posner wrote in an opinion joined by four colleagues."

Senility is always painful to watch.

Birkel said...

No bank robberies occur because nobody has to show ID and therefore it cannot be proven that the person who removed the money from the account was not who they alleged themselves to be. This is a fun game.

Your turn again, "garage mahal".

lb said...

No garage... Will be prepared to use it when people like you finally realize you actually can't force people to work to pay for other people via the government. I will just relax and stop making too much money .. Why bother when I have no actual say in how it gets spent even when the people I vote for pass laws and they aren't enforced? when the woman who voted seven times for Obama is honored by the democrats...one must conclude that they don't care about the rule of law and actually support voter fraud. Curious how you feel about that case? Or Gwen moores son slashing the tires of vans used by republicans to get out the vote? That disenfranchisement ok with you?.

Michael said...

The oldest dumbest drunkest most backward redneck can get voter ID.

damikesc said...

The oldest dumbest drunkest most backward redneck can get voter ID.

...Democrats apparently cannot.

Remember, Republicans are the dumb ones. They will tell you that incessantly while they admit that their voters can barely tie their shoes and avoid drooling at the same time.

n.n said...

Michael:

It's worse than that. With a multi-trillion dollar welfare economy, there is no logical excuse for any American to be indigent, homeless, or unidentified.

Someone is lying.

As with the mortgage crisis, financial crisis, medical care crisis, etc., this has Democrat fingerprints all over it. I'm sure that there is a substantial minority of Republicans involved as well. The overlapping and convergent interests are bipartisan.

Rusty said...

garage mahal said...
Now both madisonfella -and- Inga will be able to vote.

As nmany times as they can too!

FIRE DON'T MELT STEEL.

At approximately 2300 deg.F The curie point. the point where the the crystal lattice breaks down and the iron is no longer magnetic is approx. 1600 degrees F.