Judge regrets upholding nation’s first voter ID law
The nation’s first voter ID law came from a three-judge panel of the 7th Circuit in Indiana.
The law was integrated into American politics in 2007, and the American Civil Liberties Union and Democrats fiercely opposed the form of legislation.
Judge Richard A. Posner voted in favor of the law because, “he deemed the benefits of voting to be ‘elusive’ based on the notion that one voter alone could cast a decisive ballot in an election.”
But in his latest Huffington Post interview, Judge Posner seems to expressed regret for his decision. When asked if he felt like the judges made a mistake, he gave the following response.
“Yes. Absolutely. And the problem is that there hadn’t been that much activity with voter identification. And … maybe we should have been more imaginative… we…. weren’t really given strong indications that requiring additional voter identification would actually disfranchise people entitled to vote. There was a dissenting judge, Judge Evans, since deceased, and I think he is right. But at the time I thought what we were doing was right.
Posner writes in his book “Reflections on Judging,” that he “plead guilty to having written the majority opinion (affirmed by the Supreme Court) upholding Indiana’s requirement that prospective voters prove their identity with a photo id—a law now widely regarded as a means of voter suppression rather than fraud prevention.”
Thoughts on the judge’s change of heart? Too little too late?
Is his reasoning justifiable?
Sound off below!
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[…] The Perpetual Budget Crises Have Already Cost 900,000 Jobs BYP: [Content Note: Voter suppression] Indiana Judge Regrets Upholding Nation’s First Voter ID Law Lori: [CN: Sexual violence; rape […]