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Friday, October 20, 2006

Law - U.S. Supreme Court, in a surprise move, reverses 9th Circuit order barring the Arizona voter ID law [Updated]

Prof. Rick Hasen's Election Law Blog entry begins:

The opinion is here. The state asked for a stay from Justice Kennedy, but he referred it to the entire Court, which treated the motion as a petitionfor cert. The Court unanimously reversed the Ninth Circuit, which had barred the use of Arizona's new voter i.d. law.

The Court's order says it expresses no opinion on the ultimate merits of the case, and Justice Stevens' concurring opinion notes that allowing the voter i.d. law to be put in place will allow the courts to evaluate issues related to possible fraud prevented by the law and possible disenfranchisement caused by the law in light of actual historical experience, rather than speculation.

[Updated 10/21/06] A number of national papers have coverage today of the Supreme Court's action. How Appealing has collected the links here.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 20, 2006 04:34 PM
Posted to General Law Related