Time for SCOTUS to intervene -- again -- in a draconian Texas law

The New Orleans based 5th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals is widely considered to be the most conservative of all our federal courts.    On Tuesday, even our conservative majority Supreme Court overturned a decision of the 5th Court that had allowed the extreme anti-abortion law to go into effect pending the hearing of the appeal.    That law will close all but 8 of the clinics that provide abortions in the state of Texas.    Now that SCOTUS has stepped in, at least some of those can remain open until the final appeal is decided.

Now it's time for SCOTUS to act again, again in a Texas case and the 5th Circuit Court's response.   This one is the draconian voter ID law that will disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of Texans who do not have, and cannot easily get, an official state-approved photo ID in time for the election.

First, the ideology appalling -- trying to disguise a blatant attempt to suppress Democratic-leaning votes by calling it protecting the sanctity of the ballot box against the non-existent ballot-box fraud.   That means people showing up to vote at the polls pretending to be an eligible voter when they are not. 

A recent academic study has shown what we have long known:  There are almost no examples anywhere of this even existing, much less being a significant problem.   But this case is more than that.

Second, the 5th Court's reasoning is simply absurd.   It upheld the right to impose this law, while it is still under appeal -- and this close to the election -- by saying the decision was "in the interest of the status quo."

The law is not the status quo, because it has not yet been used in an election.   The law was first struck down by a federal district judge;  then the 5th Circuit Court agreed to hear the appeal and has now ordered that the judges decision be "stayed" (ie not implemented) until the appeal can be heard.   But it was the judge's overturning of the law that was stayed, meaning that the photo ID law will go into effect immediately, for the first time -- here three weeks before the election.

Actually, the status quo in Texas is what has been the practice -- no requirement to show a photo ID at the polls.    Implementing that law -- here three weeks before a major election -- will be inviting the chaos on election day that the 5th Court seems to be saying it wants to avoid.

What screwy non-thinking.   The Supreme Court needs to step in and reverse this very bad decision.

Ralph

ADDED 10/16:   After writing this, I learned that the SCOTUS vote to overturn the stay of the anti-abortion law was 6-3 with Scalia, Thomas, and Alito dissenting.   That means Roberts and Kennedy joined the liberals.    Doesn't mean they would vote the same when they hear the case, however;  but at least they apparently thought it likely enough the pro-life challenge would prevail that they didn't want the clinics to have to close in the meantime.