Remarkably the SCOTUS ruling on Ohio voting issue was unanimous.

[DCBob]

However, the GOP has not given up.

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After the U.S. Supreme Court sided yesterday with Ohio's secretary of state in a dispute that jeopardized 200,000 new voter registrations, the Ohio Republican Party said it "believes there are still avenues in the state courts" that could be pursued. Deputy State Chairman Kevin DeWine said the party would assess whether it can continue its legal efforts, "but I am not prepared to share legal strategies." The Supreme Court lifted a lower court's order that Democrats said could have disenfranchised voters in a crucial battleground state ahead of next month's elections. Ohio Republicans had sought to force Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner to provide county election boards with lists of newly registered voters whose information on forms did not match driver's license or Social Security records. About 200,000 new registrations are in that pool, according to Brunner's office. The GOP argued that the county boards needed the lists to detect possible registration fraud. Brunner had said that reprogramming the system just weeks before the Nov. 4 election would result in chaos. Until the Supreme Court issued its unanimous ruling, Brunner was under court order to produce lists for counties by yesterday. With the deadline lifted, Brunner said she will work to upgrade the computer system but did not commit to a timetable. She urged an end to court fights over the lists, saying in a statement, "I ask all involved to stop the legal maneuvers that unnecessarily shake public confidence."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/17/AR2008101703205.html?hpid=topnews
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I doubt the Ohio GOP will be able go any further with this. A unanimous SCOTUS ruling is pretty touch to challenge. It does give one a feeling of hope when a right leaning supreme court rules in favor of Democrats and what is fair and just.

[tblue]

1. Yeah. I'm impressed.

Maybe the rightwing of the court is not 100% in the tank w/the GOP after all. I'm still leery, but I have to give it to them -- they did the right thing.

[Demit]

2. Yes, it's good here, but SCOTUS didn't rule based on their warm & fuzzy feelings about voting rights

The reason for the ruling is that the GOP had no 'private right of action'. And that has implications down the road:

"It's always surprising when the Supreme Court takes what seems to be a position favorable to Democrats on voting issues. But it's worth keeping in mind that while the immediate consequences of the decision are good for Ohio Democrats, the long-term consequences may be different. Any time the Supreme Court curtails standing or limits private rights of action, they are limiting the ability of private people, such as civil rights litigants, to enforce legislation. There may be some value to limiting these rights in election cases, given that these issues in particular could be particularly vulnerable to political (i.e. Dem v. Repub.) lawsuits. But as a general matter, the 25-year erosion of standing and private right of action has had pretty negative results for civil rights litigants."

Read the whole thing at
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/237934.php

[DCBob]

3. Knew it was too good to be true. But nevertheless it's still a victory now.

I will take it! Thanks for the link.

[barack the house]

4. It's all about the portfolio it would appear that we may get some reasonable court rulings in >

the near future. Even the right wing justices are getting it, it's the wrong path time to change course. Step aboard captain Obama.