Courts ruling against racist laws: Texas voters' ID law, Arizona ban Vs. Mexican American Studies

TWO RULINGS by federal judges threw out two proposed laws critics said were racist and supported by conservative groups. 

A voter ID law discriminated against minorities and an attempt to ban Mexican American studies in public schools were both turned down by district judges.

An attempt to impose a voter I.D. law in Texas was turned down by U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos of the Southern District of Texas. She said changes to the law passed earlier this year by the state’s GOP-controlled legislature that were meant to be less discriminatory than an earlier one did not accomplish that.

Ramos said the state did not allow enough types of photo IDs for voters, “even though the (5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals) was clearly critical of Texas having the most restrictive list in the country.”

Ramos' ruling will likely be appealed.

The Trump administration supported the ruling after he campaigned on cutting voter fraud, picking up a theme of fellow Republicans across the country. Critics have said the Texas law and similar statutes enacted in other Republican-controlled states are an effort to suppress voting, especially among African/Americans and Latinos who tend to favor Democrats.

Trump has made unsubstantiated allegations that millions of people voted illegally for Hillary Clinton in last November’s election, in which Clinton won the popular vote but lost the decisive Electoral College count.

"Jim Crow-era tactics have kept Texas Republicans in power,” said Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa. “From discriminatory gerrymandering to discriminatory voter ID laws, it has become entirely clear that Texas Republicans are rigging our election system.”

Ethnic studies ban illegal

Arizona's ban on ethnic studies courses aimed at Latino students, saying it was motivated by racial discrimination and violated pupils’ constitutional rights.

The decision by Judge A. Wallace Tashima issued on Tuesday (Aug. 22) came in response to a lawsuit by students and parents challenging the law, which ended a Mexican American Studies, or MAS, program run by the Tucson school district.

“The Court is convinced that decisions regarding the MAS program were motivated by a desire to advance a political agenda by capitalizing on race-based fears,” ruled Tashima.

About 64 percent of Arizona’s school students are Hispanic, according to state figures. The MAS program included units on Mexican American history, art and literature.

In three separate rulings earlier this year, Federal judges ruled against Trump's attempt to implement a Muslim ban on people from six predominantly Muslim countries. While the Supreme Court allowed parts of Trump's ban, the final version was severely limited in its implementation. Other controversial elements are still being challenged and the Supreme Court will hear arguments sometime after it convenes in October.

The lower court system is the one branch of government that is not yet dominated by the radical conservative ideology that has taken over the Republican party. At the federal level and certain other states like Texas, the GOP controls the legislative and executive branches.

The courts abide by the rule of law - at this time - which makes it even more important that Trump's administration is stymied as much possible to prevent him from nominating more activist judges who render judgements based on their personal and religious views rather than the Constitution. If allowed to go unchallenged, a Trump-appointed judicial system could change the perspective of the law for decades to come.

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