Friday, August 31, 2012

Idaho and Montana Fires/ Texas Voting Law Rejected




Idaho Fire Information“The Mustang Complex resulted from thunderstorms and lightning over the weekend of July 28-29. Five of the fires, the Mustang, Broomtail, Roan, Cayuse and East Butte burned together over the next four weeks. As of August 28, the Complex had grown to over 149,000 acres.”
 “The Pine Creek Fire was called into Livingston Dispatch about 2 pm in the afternoon on August 29th. The cause of the fire is unknown. The Pine Creek Cafe, school and church were not burned in the fire. There have been a few minor injuries to the public and firefighters, but no firefighters have been killed.
Today's Operations: The southern end of the fire was active and made approximately a 1 mile run to the south. Fire retardant planes, helicopters, a dozer and a 20-person crew responded to that area. Northward movement in the Deep Creek area was limited.”

“TATEL, Circuit Judge: Pursuant to section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Texas seeks a declaratory judgment that Senate Bill 14 (SB 14), a newly-enacted law requiring in-person voters to present a photo ID, “neither has the purpose nor will have the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race[,] color,” or “member[ship] [in] a language minority group.” 42 U.S.C. §§ 1973c(a), 1973b(f)(2). To satisfy section 5’s effect requirement, Texas must demonstrate that SB 14 will not “lead to a retrogression in the position of racial minorities with respect to their effective exercise of the electoral franchise.” Beer v. United States, 425 U.S. 130, 141 (1976). For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we find that Texas has failed to make this showing—in fact, record evidence demonstrates that, if implemented, SB 14 will likely have a retrogressive effect.”

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