Federal judge strikes down Texas law requiring voter ID at polls

Federal judge strikes down Texas law requiring voter ID at polls

Thu Oct 9, 2014 10:21pm EDT

(Reuters) - A federal judge on Thursday struck down a Texas law requiring voters to show identification at polls, saying it placed an unconstitutional burden on voters and discriminated against minorities.

In a ruling that follows a two-week trial in Corpus Christi of a lawsuit challenging the controversial law, U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos also found that it amounted to an unconstitutional poll tax.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbot said the state would "immediately" appeal Ramos's ruling to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to avoid confusion in the upcoming November elections.

"The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that voter ID laws are constitutional, so we are confident the Texas law will be upheld on appeal," Abbott said in a written statement.

But a spokesman for the NAACP hailed the ruling, saying that the law had been enacted by Texas to "minimize the growing political power of minorities" in the state.

"Fortunately, the court's ruling today prevented that result," said Natasha Korgaonkar, who represented the NAACP at trial.

The trial stemmed from a battle over stringent voter ID measures signed into law by Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry in 2011.

The measure, which supporters say will prevent voter fraud, requires voters to present a photo ID such as a concealed handgun license or driver's license.

Plaintiffs argued the law would hit elderly and poorer voters, including racial minorities, hardest because they are less likely to have such identification.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...0HZ04D20141010

Another liberal agenda driven Judge.

Obama nominates Corpus Christi judge to federal bench

Posted: Friday, January 28, 2011 12:00 am | Updated: 7:34 am, Fri Jan 28, 2011.

CORPUS CHRISTI (AP) — State District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos of Corpus Christi has been nominated by President Barack Obama to succeed retired U.S. District Court Judge Hayden Head.

Head is a former chief judge of the Southern District of Texas and went to senior status after announcing his retirement in 2009.

He joined the court in 1981.

The 45-year-old Gonzales is a Democrat and a native of Port Lavaca.

She was a municipal court judge in Corpus Christi from 1997 to 1999, worked in private practice and has been elected a state district judge in Nueces County since 2000.

Her nomination, announced by the White House on Wednesday, requires U.S. Senate confirmation.

The Corpus Christi division of the federal bench covers 10 South Texas counties.

http://www.news-journal.com/news/local/article_96c7e4bd-1005-527e-8c28-2dbfe57429de.html

Youngest of Mexican immigrants named to federal bench

By Gheni_Platenburg
Oct. 1, 2011 at 5:01 a.m.

She was sworn in later that same day at the federal courthouse in Corpus Christi by U.S. District Judge John D. Rainey, of the Victoria Division, allowing her to take on her new duties.

A formal swearing-in ceremony occurred Sept. 22.

"Once we get past that, I can start putting my personal touches on the office," said a soft-spoken Ramos as she leaned back in her oversized, gold-studded, blue, leather office chair situated behind a majestic wood desk. "It doesn't feel cozy or comfortable yet."

The lavish office boasting vast, wooden bookshelves of legal reference books is a far leap from her meager beginnings.
A Port Lavaca native, Ramos grew up the youngest of six children born to parents who immigrated from Mexico and later became U.S. citizens.

With a father who worked as a heavy equipment operator and a mother who was a housewife, there was not much money for activities outside the home other than school.

Growing up, Ramos kept herself occupied by playing outside with friends, reading and daydreaming of becoming a teacher.
"(Teachers) were who you were exposed to when you were a kid," said Ramos. "They were great role models and examples."
Although Ramos' parents and siblings did not attend college they impressed upon Ramos to obtain a higher education.
"We all were fortunate to land good jobs without a degree, but we all agreed that a college degree was important," said Ramos' sister Lydia Cruz. "We told her that she could go find a good job, but a college degree would open up more doors."
Taking her family's words to heart, Ramos attended Southwest Texas State University after graduation from Calhoun County High School in 1983.

She soon graduated with a bachelor's degree in education.

Despite her previous desire to become a teacher and a successful stint at student teaching, after graduation, Ramos found herself questioning whether she truly wanted to pursue a career in teaching.

Capitalizing on an underlying interest in the law, Ramos enrolled in legal assistance classes at her college alma mater before enrolling and eventually graduating from the University of Texas law school.

"Once I got into law school, there was never a time I thought I didn't want to do this," she said.

Following her graduation in 1991 from law school, Ramos landed a job with the Corpus Christi law firm Meredith, Donnell and Abernathy, where she mainly did civil defense work.

"I got a good base that has served me well," she said.

Afterward, Ramos served as a municipal court judge for the City of Corpus Christi before being elected the 347th District Judge in 2000.

She took the bench in 2001 and was subsequently re-elected in 2004 and 2008.

During her 10-plus years of service, Ramos worked to establish more oversight on domestic abuse offenders in addition to presiding over countless civil and criminal cases.

When asked about the more memorable cases of her judgeship, Ramos pinpointed the cases of a murdered U.S. Coast Guard officer as well as the 2007 case of Scott Ryan Helgerson, the 19-year-old who was sentenced to 60 years in prison for the vehicular manslaughter deaths of three siblings.

"It was very emotional," said Ramos. "The defendant was really young, but on the other side, a family was destroyed."
For Ramos, the job also proved emotionally tough at times.

"You preside over the case, but you can't portray your emotions or feelings," she said. "A lot of sadness comes with being a judge because of the nature of the cases, but there are bright spots that come from getting someone in treatment or reconnecting families. It's very fulfilling."

November 2009 brought news that U.S. District Judge Hayden Head, of the Corpus Christi Division, would be entering senior status, creating a vacancy.

Not one to shy away from an opportunity, Ramos applied for the position right away.

"It was an opportunity to remain in the same line of work but handle some other kinds of cases, and I wouldn't have to run for re-election every four years," Ramos, who was up for re-election in 2012, chuckled. "It seemed like something I might enjoy doing."

The road to the judgeship was a long one.

After submitting her application to the Texas Democratic delegation, going through interviews, gaining President Obama's support and going before the U.S. Senate for confirmation, she took over the position in August.

Ramos' investiture ceremony was a memorable moment for the nearly 700 people who attended.

"We are proud of her," Cruz said through tears. "It was a little sad emotionally because we lost our Dad three years ago. He would have been so proud of her."

The ceremony was momentous for Ramos as well.

"It was really nice. It was really special to share the moment with my friends, family, old colleagues and new colleagues."
So far in her new position, Ramos said she has mainly been taking care of administrative duties, familiarizing herself with her new surroundings, and presiding over hearings and pleas.

This week, however, she sat at the head of her first federal criminal trial for drug transportation.

"She's going to do an excellent job here as she did in state court," said Denise Guajardo, Ramos' court coordinator for the past 10 years. "She's very humbled by her success, and her demeanor hasn't changed."

"I've seen her progress. She's matured over the years, and I think she'll be a very good federal court judge," said Rebecca Kieschnick, a partner in the law firm that first hired Ramos. "We're very proud of her. We think she'll do great."

When the married mother of one son is not busy acclimating herself with her new job, Ramos said she can be found somewhere reading or spending time with her family.

"I think I'm where I want to be," said Ramos. "Hopefully, I'll be here for a long time."
https://www.victoriaadvocate.com/new...100211_152704/

http://www.alipac.us/f9/supreme-cour...on-law-312594/

The I.D. requirement doesn't seem any more onerous than would be a requirement for being able to read and write, if you want to get a driver's license.
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Americans first in this magnificent country

American jobs for American workers

Fair trade, not free trade

Supreme Court ruling could thwart Texas’ appeal in voter ID case
http://cdn.thinglink.me/api/image/57...043138249'



By TERRENCE STUTZ
Austin Bureau
tstutz@dallasnews.com
Published: 10 October 2014 11:35 PM
Updated: 10 October 2014 11:47 PM

AUSTIN — An unexpected U.S. Supreme Court order setting aside a voter ID law in Wisconsin could spell trouble for Texas as it tries to appeal a federal judge’s ruling striking down Texas’ own photo-identification requirement.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott was taking steps Friday to appeal the decision overturning the Texas law. But some election law experts pointed to the Supreme Court’s order blocking implementation of Wisconsin’s similar voter ID requirements before the Nov. 4 election.

The high court, 6-3, handed down an emergency order in the Wisconsin case over the objections of the panel’s three biggest conservatives — Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

The majority, including Chief Justice John Roberts, provided no explanation in the order.

Because the Texas and Wisconsin laws are similar — with Texas’ law considered the strictest in the nation — Abbott’s appeal could run into a roadblock even if he is initially successful with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That is where he will lodge his appeal of Thursday’s decision by U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos of Corpus Christi.

“Even if the Texas ruling is stayed by the 5th Circuit, there is a strong likelihood that the Supreme Court will do the same thing in the Texas case that it did in Wisconsin because the evidence is much stronger and because Texas, unlike Wisconsin, has a history of voter discrimination,” said Buck Wood, an Austin lawyer who’s an expert on election laws. Wood testified for the plaintiffs in the voter ID trial last month.

In a 147-page opinion, Ramos said the Texas law discriminates against and violates the voting rights of minority and low-income voters. She also pointed out that the Wisconsin law is the “most similar” to Texas’ statute out of all the voter ID laws enacted across the U.S.

Both states require voters to show a specified photo ID card to vote.

The accepted IDs include a driver’s license, a state-issued personal ID card, a passport, a U.S. military ID card and a U.S. citizenship certificate.

Wisconsin also allows two other types of IDs not authorized in Texas: a college student ID and one issued by a federally recognized Indian tribe. When Republicans in the Legislature crafted the Texas law in 2011, they rejected an amendment that would have added college and university IDs to the list.

Wood also discounted the attorney general’s contention that any change in the voter ID law just weeks before the election would be disruptive.

“We would just return to the same system we have had for decades,” he said. “We won’t have to do anything different. And we won’t have to do some new things that the law requires.”

Dallas County Elections Administrator Toni Pippins-Poole said Friday that her office was training workers to be prepared for an election with or without voter IDs.

“It’s going to be like a dual process,” she said. But for now, the emphasis would be on running an election as if it were 2012, before the law took effect.

That means voters will be asked to show identification, but not necessarily a photo ID. The ID required included things like a utility bill, a personal ID card, a voter registration card and other forms.

Pippins-Poole’s office had just informed some county residents, many of them married women, that the names on their voter registration cards must match their photo IDs. Barring a reversal of the court’s decision, that guideline won’t be necessary.

In her decision, Ramos, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, also upbraided Texas officials for not publicizing an ID that voters could obtain from a local Department of Public Safety office if they have no other valid photo ID.

Ramos noted that of the estimated 608,470 registered Texas voters who have no photo ID — many of them poor minorities — only 279 have obtained an election ID card with just weeks to go before the general election.

“No real effort has been made by Texas to educate the public about the availability of [a state identification for voting], where to get it, or what is required to obtain it,” the judge said. She noted that usually requires the voter to purchase a copy of his or her birth certificate if the voter doesn’t already have one.

A spokeswoman for the Texas secretary of state’s office, which oversees elections, took issue Friday with the criticism. The Legislature provided $2million to inform Texans about the new voter ID law.

Alicia Phillips Pierce, communications director for the agency, said about $800,000 was spent on 18,234 radio and TV spots before the primary and runoff elections in March and May.

Pierce said the remaining $1.2 million for the voter outreach effort is being spent on TV ads that began running in September. She did not have an estimate for the number of spots that have run but noted that all of the funds will be used in the campaign.

“We are educating voters through paid advertising, social media, community outreach, press releases and appearances by Secretary [Nandita] Berry all across the state,” Pierce said.

Ramos said state attorneys presented scant evidence of voter impersonation fraud in Texas — the main argument advanced by Republican lawmakers who pushed for passage of the voter ID law.

“In the 10 years preceding [passage of the voter ID law], only two cases of in-person voter impersonation fraud were prosecuted to conviction — a period of time in which 20 million votes were cast,” the judge said, citing testimony from a special investigation unit of the attorney general’s office.

Critics of the Republican-backed law, including most Democrats, contend the real motive was to suppress voting by minority and lower-income citizens, who tend to vote Democratic in elections and who are less likely to have the required photo IDs.

Ramos also said nearly 1 in 20 Texas voters could have trouble casting a ballot under the law because they lack a proper photo ID.
“When 4.5 percent of voters are potentially disenfranchised, election outcomes can easily change,” she wrote.

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/polit...f-voter-id.ece

https://dvhu1327i3h2y.cloudfront.net...e6727_1024.jpg

10/14/2014

http://www.alipac.us/f9/appeals-cour...id-law-312809/