This is just awesome!
Judge Pepper has issued his ruling on the requests for changes to his original order.
Here is a link to the full order in PDF format
http://www.clarionledger.com/misc/Blogs/community/redblue/July%2017,%202007%20Opinion.pdf
Here are some interesting excerpts:
Concerning the appeals court’s overturning of Georgia’s voter ID because requiring it to be paid for equals a poll tax there is this footnote —
The court respectfully disagrees with the court’s ruling in Common Cause/Georgia v. Billups that because Georgia’s mandatory photo identification must be purchased, the requirement constitutes a poll tax. In any event, if a State required photo identification that would include a current driver’s license already purchased by the voter, or provided photo identification cards at no charge, there would be no fee that could be construed as a poll tax.
Final ruling requiring voter registration:
With regard to voter identification, the court affirms its ruling that some form of voter identification must be required in Mississippi’s future primary system, the form of which must be just as accurate as that required for other daily functions of American life, if not more so given the solemnity of exercising the constitutional right to vote. This identification must be required of every would-be voter, and no exceptions should be allowed such as for those over 65 since one must be able to prove one is over 65 to be excepted, which would require accurate identification.3 With these instructions, the Mississippi Legislature is left to specifically determine how to implement voter identification subject to approval by the Justice Department and this court.
NAACP’s (ridiculous) request to the judge:
The NAACP argues that the voter identification and re-registration rulings:(1) impose upon the State a voter photo identification requirement that is not necessary to enforce the Constitution; (2) are beyond the scope of the Court’s power to remedy the Constitutional violation found; (3) are contrary to Mississippi law, which imposes no such requirements; and (4) could harm participation of many voters who are elderly and poor, a disproportionate number of whom are black.
And the judge’s answer:
The court has already addressed the first three of these arguments above. With regard to the last argument, the NAACP has not demonstrated the precise harm that would result in requiring voter identification in a world in which identification is generally required for everyday American life. In any event, the Legislature has not yet chosen which type of identification it wishes to require for primary elections, nor has the Justice Department or the court approved the Legislature’s choice. Thus, the NAACP arguments against the court’s ruling that some form of substantially accurate form of identification is required are premature.
Similarly, the NAACP’s argument that re-registration of all 1.7 million of Mississippi’s voters is improper is premature given that the Legislature has not yet determined the specifics as to how it will implement the State’s new system.
Conclusion:
For the reasons discussed above, the court concludes that Plaintiffs’ Motion for Reconsideration and to Preserve Post-Election Relief [52] should be denied; Defendant Jim Hood’s Rule 59(e) Motion [55] should be granted insofar as it seeks to extend the deadline in paragraph 8 of the court’s June 8, 2007 Opinion from August 2007 to August 31, 2008; the Mississippi Republican Executive Committee’s Motion to Intervene and to Alter Amended Order [57] should be granted insofar as it seeks to intervene and to have the deadline moved but denied insofar as it seeks to exempt Republicans from the court’s rulings; and the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP’s Motion to Intervene and for Reconsideration [59] should be granted insofar as the NAACP is allowed to intervene but denied insofar as it seeks to have the court delete reference to voter identification and re-registration.
Guys, while I was reading this my dear CDBear thought I was having fits because I kept howling about this stuff. The more stuff I read from this judge, the more I like him.
The dems and NAACP must be having really bad nightmares over getting exactly what they asked for in their lawsuit. And somewhere in the Governor’s executive office there are Republicans trying hard not to do the Snoopy happy dance.