October 8, 2010
Ninth Circuit Court Reverses Self
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the most reversed of court of all, has reversed itself. In January a three-judge panel of the court ruled that Washington state could not prohibit inmates from voting on the theory that the state's prohibition was a violation of the Voting Rights act since the inmate population is disproportionately minority. An eleven-judge panel reversed that decision on Thursday reasoning that intentional discrimination had not been demonstrated and that a disparity in the prison population makeup is not sufficient to demonstrate discrimination.
So sanity prevails, however momentarily, in the court that often appears to be the highest in the land, though not by virtue of its level of judicial authority. This is bad news for soon-to-be-ex-senator Murray, who could probably use the votes.