U.S. appeals court says Texas must pay legal fees in voter ID case

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

U.S. appeals court says Texas must pay legal fees in voter ID case

AUSTIN, Texas Tue Mar 17, 2015 8:34pm EDT

(Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court said on Tuesday the state of Texas must pay about $3 million in legal fees to plaintiffs after being on the wrong side of a civil rights lawsuit over voting.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said a lower court made a mistake when it allowed Texas to avoid paying the fees and reversed its decision.

The trial stemmed from a battle over stringent voter ID measures signed into law in 2011 by former Governor Rick Perry, a Republican. The measure, which supporters said would prevent voter fraud, required voters to present a photo identification such as a driver's license, passport or military ID card.

In October, a federal judge struck down the Texas law, saying it placed an unconstitutional burden on voters and discriminated against minorities.

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Additional rpeorting by Lisa Bose McDermott in Texarkana, Texas; Editing by Sandra Maler)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/18/us-usa-texas-voterid-idUSKBN0ME01B20150318

[msanthrope]

1. Good. nt

[misterhighwasted]

2. Great news. Texas GOP will do all they can in 2016

..to deny voters their right. They will need to be watched closely.

[TexasTowelie]

3. A surprising ruling from the Fifth Circuit.

Obviously they wanted to avoid setting a precedent when a corporate benefactor won a lawsuit.

[Fred Sanders]

4. Not really. SCOTUS allowed the voter suppression law to be in place for the 2013 election.

Not sure if the 5th Circuit upheld it later, and is just now ruling about costs.

[Gothmog]

5. This is great news