Bail Bond Sanford – California Court Keeps Ban on Dredging Gold

Source     : US News
By            : SUDHIN THANAWALA, Associated Press
Category : Bail Bond Sanford , Sanford Bail Bond

California Court Keeps Ban on Dredging Gold

California’s ban on the use of suction dredges to extract gold from rivers is legal and not overridden by a 19th century federal law that allows mining on federal land, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday. The court’s unanimous decision was a victory for environmentalists and a blow to miners, who argued that the ban essentially stopped gold mining because doing it by hand is labor intensive and makes the enterprise unprofitable. Environmentalists say suction dredge mining risks killing fish and stirring up toxic mercury.

The high court’s ruling came in an appeal of a criminal case in which miner Brandon Rinehart was convicted of a misdemeanor for suction dredge mining without a permit in 2012 and sentenced to three years of probation. Associate Justice Kathryn Werdegar, writing for the court, said the federal Mining Law of 1872 did not guarantee a right to mine free from regulation. Instead, its goal was to protect miners’ property rights involving the federal land to which they laid claim, she said.

“The mining laws were neither a guarantee that mining would prove feasible nor a grant of immunity against local regulation, but simply an assurance that the ultimate original landowner, the United States, would not interfere by asserting its own property rights,” she wrote. Rinehart’s attorney, James Buchal, said the high court showed a “casual disregard” for federal law. He said Rinehart would likely ask the court to review its ruling or appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Suction dredges are powerful underwater vacuums that suck up rocks, gravel and sand from riverbeds to filter out gold.

State officials argued their right to protect the environment was not pre-empted by federal mining law. Miners countered that the state failed to show suction dredge mining killed any fish. The court’s ruling came more than a century after the famous California gold rush that brought tens of thousands of miners to the state from around the country. California has experienced a mini-gold rush of sorts in recent years, as low water levels caused by the drought have lured amateur prospectors to riverbed spots that have been out of reach for decades. There are over 20,000 mining claims on federal lands in California. Suction dredge mining largely occurs in mountain regions. California passed a law last year that allows state officials to resume granting permits for suction dredge mining under certain conditions that include making sure the practice does not have any significant effect on fish and wildlife. The conditions have not yet been met, so no permits have been granted.

Read more at : usnews.com/news/business/articles/2016-08-22/california-court-to-decide-fight-over-gold-mining-technique

Sanford Bail Bond – ‘Unborn child’ has significant legal rights, judge rules

Source     : The Irish Times
By            : Mary Carolan
Category : Bail Bond Sanford , Sanford Bail Bond

‘Unborn child’ has significant legal rights, judge rules

A High Court judge has said the word “unborn” in the Constitution means an “unborn child” with rights beyond the right to life, which “must be taken seriously” by the State. The unborn child, including the unborn child of a parent facing deportation, enjoys “significant” rights and legal position at common law, by statute, and under the Constitution, “going well beyond the right to life alone”, Mr Justice Richard Humphreys said. Many of those rights were “actually effective” rather than merely prospective. He said article 42a of the Constitution, inserted as a result of the 2012 Children’s Referendum, provides the State must protect “all” children.

Because an “unborn” is “clearly a child”, article 42a means all children “both before and after birth”. He said while neither article 42a nor article 40.3.3 (requiring the State to vindicate the right to life of the unborn) were intended to confer immigration rights, that did not displace any legal consequences flowing from the prospective position of an unborn child with a parent facing deportation. He said fundamental shifts in society and various constitutional amendments, including providing for same-sex marriage, also required the State to recognise unmarried parents enjoy wider inherent constitutional rights in relation to their children and each other. He made the findings when granting leave to a Nigerian man, his Irish partner and their now almost one-year-old child – who was born after the case was initiated – for judicial review over the man’s intended deportation.

Legal rights
When considering the application to revoke a 2008 order for the man’s deportation, the Minister for Justice must consider not just the right to life of the unborn but also the legal rights the child will acquire on birth, insofar as those were relevant to deportation, the judge held. The Minister must consider the constitutional, statutory, EU and European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) rights of the man, his partner and the child, including their family rights under article 8 of the ECHR, he ruled. He dismissed the State’s arguments the couple have no family rights under the Constitution due to not being married, no rights under article 8 because their situation is “precarious” and the only right their unborn child had was to life. The State’s submissions were “mired in the middle of the last century” while its citizens “are voting with their feet” and engaging in a much wider variety of family relationships than the State was prepared to acknowledge as having constitutional rights.

Deportation order
He stressed his findings did not mean a person in the position of this man, unlawfully in the State, was automatically entitled to remain here. The Nigerian man came here in 2007, was refused asylum and subsidiary protection, and a deportation order was made in 2008. He remained working here, had a short-lived marriage to an EU national and failed to get residency based on marriage to an EU citizen. He later had a child with a non-EU national before starting a relationship with an Irish woman. In July 2015 the man and his then pregnant Irish partner sought leave for judicial review and got an interim injunction restraining deportation.

Their child was born in August 2015. In his decision Mr Justice Humphreys dismissed as “entirely without merit” the Minister’s argument that, when considering the man’s application, the only relevant right of his unborn child was a right to life. He said the Minister’s undertaking not to deport the man should continue pending a decision on his application for residency based on parentage of an unborn child, with liberty to apply should the Minister seek to withdraw the undertaking.

Read more at : irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/high-court/unborn-child-has-significant-legal-rights-judge-rules-1.2741697

Bondsman in Seminole County – Devastating earthquake brings up legal questions in Italy

Source    : Palm Beach Post
By            : Lindsey Pulse
Category : Bail Bondsman in Sanford , Bondsman in Seminole County

Devastating earthquake brings up legal questions in Italy

Officials have begun investigating building code violations in central Italy where an earthquake turned structures into rubble this past week. The 6.2-magnitude quake killed at least 290 people, most of them in the small city of Amatrice. Citizens and authorities are still searching the ruins for victims. But the fact that the earthquake caused so many structures to collapse has many questioning whether the area’s buildings were up to code.  Buildings in Italy are sometimes more than 100 years old and not always up to seismic standards.

But prosecutors are also looking into the possibility that some property owners altered the structures of their homes without bringing them up to code. Special attention will reportedly be paid to a bell tower restored in 2009 and an elementary school renovated to withstand earthquakes in 2012. And while Italy might have the physical resources to renovate the century-old buildings, the holdup often comes down to money. Voice of America quoted one man saying its “impossible or prohibitively expensive to make changes within the regulations that are drawn up by the government in Rome.”

Those that did recently renovate and violate building codes could reportedly face criminal charges. The timing of the investigation has angered some survivors and families still mourning those killed by the quake. Money isn’t the only pillar the towns have to overcome. Corruption also plays a role in a city’s ability to move forward. More specifically, Italian authorities are now tasked with keeping the mafia out of rebuilding efforts. Italy’s national anti-mafia prosecutor told a local newspaper “earthquake reconstruction is a tasty morsel for criminal organizations and committees.”

Read more at : palmbeachpost.com/news/news/national/devastating-earthquake-brings-legal-questions-ital/nsNGD/

Seminole County Bail Bonds – Facebook Plan For WhatsApp Data Poses Legal Risks

Source    : Fortune
By            : Jeff John Roberts
Category : Seminole County Bail Bonds , Bail Bondsman in Sanford

Facebook Plan For WhatsApp Data Poses Legal Risks

When WhatsApp announced on Thursday that it would start sharing data with its corporate parent, Facebook, some of its fans howled that the popular messaging service was betraying long-held promises to protect their privacy. But for the companies, angry users may pose less of a problem than the Federal Trade Commission, which serves as the country’s top privacy regulator. Recall that in 2014, after Facebook GOOG -0.03% announced it would acquire WhatsApp, the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection sent a stern letter to the companies warning them to honor their promises to consumers or face an investigation into unfair trade practices. That letter also pointed to specific pledges from the companies including one by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg who insisted that, “We are absolutely not going to change plans around WhatsApp and the way it uses user data.”

The result is that WhatsApp, which has over 1 billion users, will have to tread very carefully as it implements its plan to share information such as phone numbers and analytics data with Facebook. (While WhatsApp users will have an option to block Facebook from using certain data for advertising, they will be unable to block Facebook from linking the accounts internally to get a better picture about who its users are and, possibly, an even better idea about who they know). For Facebook, the task of carrying out all this in a lawful manner is more challenging still since the company is under a 20-year consent decree related to earlier complaints about its privacy policies:

The FTC, as is its custom, declined to comment on how or if it will scrutinize Facebook’s plan to integrate the WhatsApp data. Since the FTC acts as a law enforcement agency, it does not actively tell companies what is or is not acceptable, but instead requires them to be familiar with its rules and act accordingly. In this case, the answer to whether the Facebook data plan is legal is likely turn on just how WhatsApp goes about obtaining permission to implement the changes. As the 2014 letter from the agency noted:

Finally, if you choose to change how you collect, use, and share newly-collected WhatsApp data, we recommend that you offer consumers an opportunity to opt out of such changes or, at least, that you make clear to consumers that they have an opportunity to stop using the WhatsApp service

In practice, this means Facebook could face extra scrutiny if it puts the new WhatsApp changes deep in a pile of legal mumbo-jumbo. As for the opt-out, here is what WhatsApp says it would look like: WhatsApp permission So the outcome will likely turn on whether the FTC agrees that the opportunity to uncheck that box amounts to a fair opt-out procedure. In response to a question about the FTC rules, Facebook provided the following statement from a WhatsApp spokesperson:

“WhatsApp complies with applicable laws. As always, we consider our obligations when designing updates like this … We’ve made our terms and privacy policy easily accessible, provided an overview of the key updates, and empowered people to make decisions that are right for them, including offering a control for existing users over how their data can be used.” For Facebook, the data integration plan is important since WhatsApp, which it acquired for $22 billion, has yet to generate any real revenue for the company.

Read more at: fortune.com/2016/08/25/facebook-whatsapp-ftc/

Bail Bond Seminole County – Uber offers retirement plans to drivers as legal battle continues

Source     : Tech Crunch
By            : Kate Conger
Category : Bail Bond Seminole County , Bail Bondsman in Sanford

Uber offers retirement plans to drivers as legal battle continues

The ride-hailing company announced today that drivers in several cities will be offered retirement plans through Betterment, an automated investment service. The deal, which has been in the works since this spring, will be offered first to drivers in Seattle, Boston, Chicago and New Jersey. Uber plans to eventually expand the program nationwide, and will offer drivers the opportunity to register for Betterment directly from the Uber app. The announcement comes as Uber’s legal battle over whether it should categorize drivers as employees or independent contractors continues, and Uber tells TechCrunch that it designed the retirement savings feature based on driver feedback. Last week, a San Francisco judge rejected the $100 million settlement Uber had reached with San Francisco and Massachusetts drivers over their employment categorization. Some drivers spoke out about the settlement, saying they were shortchanged, and U.S. District Judge Edward Chen appeared to agree — he called the settlement unfair for drivers. However, Judge Chen’s interpretation of the law may push many drivers, who sued over the lack of reimbursement for expenses and notice before termination, out of the settlement. “It now seems very likely that the scope of this case may be drastically reduced to about 8,000 drivers,” the drivers’ attorney, Shannon Liss-Riordan, told The Wall Street Journal.

Retirement plans are typically part of an employment package. By offering the plans to drivers, Uber seems to be softening its strict stance that drivers are contractors. However, the plans won’t change drivers’ employment classification — Uber won’t match any of the funds drivers save through the plan, as employers traditionally do. Betterment accounts will be free to Uber drivers for one year (the investment company usually charges a small fee to maintain an account) with no minimum balance. After the first year, drivers will have to pay a discounted fee of 0.25 percent on the amount in their account — for instance, if a driver saved $5,000, she would pay $12.50 to Betterment. If an individual quits driving for Uber, she can take her Betterment account with her. Uber says the program is important because it will encourage the company’s 600,000 U.S.-based drivers to start saving if they haven’t already. “Nearly one–third of Americans have no retirement savings or pension. And research consistently shows that when people have access to a retirement account, they’re more likely to save than not,” Uber regional general manager Rachel Holt wrote in a blog post announcing the program.

A Betterment spokesperson said the company was uniquely positioned to win the contract with Uber because it has a strong mobile platform, in-app financial advice and low costs. Although Betterment hasn’t shared sign-up data, the company is prepared for 10,000 to 100,000 Uber drivers signing up per day.Retirement plans aren’t entirely new to the gig economy. Lyft began offering a similar program to its drivers last year in partnership with another investment and savings startup, Honest Dollar. Lyft drivers pay a flat rate of $3 per month for the Honest Dollar retirement plans, regardless of how much — or little — they save. Lyft also helps connect drivers with health insurance, roadside assistance and other benefits. Uber’s introduction of retirement plans earned some praise from Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, where the retirement plans have not yet been introduced. “Local and regional experimentation is crucial to developing a workable model for portable benefits,” Sen. Warner said in a statement. “I am encouraged that Uber is taking steps to be part of these conversations, and I look forward to continuing to engage with other on-demand companies and state and local leaders who want to be a part of this discussion.”

Read more at: techcrunch.com/2016/08/24/uber-offers-retirement-plans-to-drivers-as-legal-battle-continues/

Bail Bondsman in Sanford – Human Skulls Are Being Sold Online, But Is It Legal

Source     : News National Geographic
By            : Kristin Hugo
Category : Bail Bondsman in Sanford , Bondsman in Seminole County

Human Skulls Are Being Sold Online, But Is It Legal

In 2011, an archaeologist in the United Kingdom picked out one of the many human skulls sitting on his shelf. The 17th-century European male was missing most of his teeth and mandible, but the skull was clean and generally in decent condition. The archaeologist photographed it, described it, and listed it on eBay. At the time, the popular online auction site allowed anyone to trade in human bones as long as the remains were clean, articulated, and for medical purposes. The 17th-century skull was neither articulated nor did it go to a doctor, but it did fetch the archaeologist $750, minus the usual fees from eBay and PayPal. This was the skull that started Zane Wylie’s obsession. Wylie was studying facial expressions, and he wanted an authentic skull to study how muscles attached to the bone. “I looked online to see if I could get a real skull, and to my surprise, there were several dozen available,” says Wylie, who asked to go by the pseudonym he now uses for business purposes.

He named his acquisition “Yorick,” the first of many skulls he’d eventually purchase online. By late 2011, he had started carving designs into them and selling them on websites and at conferences, eventually making a living primarily through his boney art. Wylie was hardly alone: Communities of people who collect oddities and bones were well aware of how easy it was to list something on eBay when no one had to prove provenance or medical affiliation. But now, academic and legal professionals are starting to take notice. On July 4, an analysis published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences described how, over the course of just seven months, sellers listed 454 human skulls on eBay, with an average opening bid of around $650. The authors, Christine Halling and Ryan Seidemann with the Louisiana Department of Justice, also noted the trade of human skulls on other websites like Yahoo! and Facebook.

Just four days after the study was published, eBay banned trade in human remains except head hair, which is commonly used to make wigs and Victorian-style art. Sellers’ items were pulled from the site, and any listing fees they had paid were refunded. (Find out more about Victorian-era jewelry made from human hair.) The official reasoning from eBay for the policy change was: “The sale of humans and human remains is prohibited by law, and sellers can’t list them on eBay.” Perhaps shockingly, that’s not exactly true, but the move may signal a drastic rethink of what is currently a largely legal trade in human bones. In addition to the eBay decision, the state of Louisiana banned trade and even ownership of almost all human remains shortly after the study appeared. Bone traders started to get nervous. Some deleted their Instagram accounts featuring human remains. Some canceled their interviews with National Geographic. The Bone Room, a store selling bones of all types, sent a note in their August newsletter saying that they consider the eBay ban worrisome. “I suspect a law will be passed, and I will no longer be able to sell human bones to artists, cadaver dog trainers, or people who just want to own a femur or a skull,” the store owner said in the newsletter.

Read more at: news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/08/human-skulls-sale-legal-ebay-forensics-science/

Bail Bond Sanford – New State Law Cyclists Have The Same Rights As Vehicles

Source     : Chicagoist
By            : Stephen Gossett
Category : Bail Bond Sanford , Sanford Bail Bond

New State Law Makes It Clear: Cyclists Have The Same Rights As Vehicles

Illinois bicyclists have the same legal rights on the road as vehicles. This was already the law of the land, but a new state law further clarifies and punctuates that fact. Attorney Michael Keating, of Keating Law Offices, PC, helped draft House Bill 5912, which was signed into law early last week. He told Chicagoist the law makes two key clarifications: a bicycle is “absolutely a vehicle” under the Illinois Vehicle Code; and it elucidates the statute related to right-of-way situations, stating that “when appropriate,” a bicycle is entitled to the same rights as a vehicle. Despite existing protections in the vehicle code, the law was necessitated by a case in which a judge dismissed charges against a driver who fatally struck a cyclist in May of last year. Driver James Connor was charged with failure to yield after he hit and killed bicyclist Dennis Jurs, 68. The collision occurred in an intersection at which Connor had a stop sign, but Jurs did not. But Judge Donald Tegeler Jr. threw out the charge against the driver, citing contradictory appellate court rulings in previous bicycle-rights cases. The law, which passed the General Assembly with only vote of opposition and takes effect next year, states that “every person riding a bicycle upon a highway shall be granted all of the rights” granted to vehicles.

“Highway,” Keating points out, “as used in the Vehicle Code, is much more general, than we use colloquially.” In legal terms, it does not mean, say, expressway. “Legally speaking, it’s more akin to how we informally use the term ‘roadway.’” The law was passed just days before two cyclists were fatally struck in Chicago. Lisa Kuivinen, 20, was killed on Tuesday when the driver of an 18-wheel flatbed truck struck Lisa while the victim was riding in the bike lane on a busy leg of Milwaukee Ave. Francisco Cruz, 58, was killed in a hit-and-run collision the very next night, on Wednesday, in West Garfield Park. Two more cyclists were killed on Chicago roads earlier this summer: Virginia Murray, 25, was fatally hit in July while riding a Divvy in Avondale. Courier Blaine Klingenberg, 29, was hit and pinned underneath a double-decker tour bus, north of the Magnificent Mile in June. Keating declined to comment on those cases in particular, but added, “generally speaking, any traffic incident going forward in which the bicyclist is operating under the law, this will absolutely help the cyclist. Now there is no confusion, no discrepancy.”

“It is absolutely clear that a bicyclist is entitled to the right of way.” Jim Merrell, Advocacy Director of Active Transportation Alliance, sounded a note of appreciation. “We appreciate all of the hard work done by our friends in the legal field to strengthen bicyclist and pedestrian safety,” he told Chicagoist. Merrell published an impassioned and moving post on Friday in the wake of the most recent deaths. “I’m…disgusted and angered by the relentless victim blaming on social media and news website comments,” he wrote. “There but for the grace of God go I.” With the passage of this law, perhaps a greater understanding that bicyclists do indeed possess the same legal rights as vehicles will lead to fewer collisions.

Read more at: chicagoist.com/2016/08/22/new_state_law_clarifies_that_bicycl.php

Sanford Bail Bond – Contempt of court law passed after seven-hour debate

Source     : News Asiaone
By             : Kelly Tay
Category : Bail Bond Sanford , Sanford Bail Bond

Contempt of court law passed after seven-hour debate

Singapore lawmakers on Monday night passed the Administration of Justice (Protection) Bill, after seven hours of heated debate. Law Minister K Shanmugam single-handedly took up two-and-a-half hours of that time, using two lengthy speeches to debunk criticism that the Bill was rushed into Parliament, curbs freedom of expression, and places the government above the judiciary. The Bill – passed with 72 votes “for” and nine “against” – puts in writing contempt of court laws that have until now been left to the courts to define. It sets out the types of conduct which amount to contempt of court: disobeying court orders, interfering with court proceedings, sub judice contempt (where ongoing court proceedings are prejudiced as a result of comments), and scandalising the court. Explaining the government’s decision to include contempt law in the statutes – despite the Law Ministry’s assertion that “the boundaries of contempt … will not change” – Mr Shanmugam said that it is “not satisfactory” to have this as the only criminal law in Singapore that is based on case law.

Rejecting claims that the government had rushed the Bill into Parliament without sufficient public consultation, Mr Shanmugam said the genesis of the Bill was six years ago, when former chief justice Chan Sek Keong mooted the enactment of such a law. He added that the six-year timeframe was long by Singapore’s standards. Mr Shanmugam reiterated that stakeholders such as the Judiciary, the Law Society of Singapore, academics, and media practiti Still, he noted that only 249 members of the public had signed an online petition seeking to delay the passage of the Bill, on the grounds that it may restrict the legitimate discussion of issues that are of public interest. Several online commentators and Members of Parliament (MPs) had also expressed concern that the government was attempting to limit citizens’ freedom of speech – fearing that they would run afoul of the law by simply commenting on a matter before the courts. Representing several opposition MPs’ views, Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Dennis Tan characterised the Bill as an “unjust and draconian piece of law”.

But Mr Shanmugam shot down such perceptions as “untrue”, stating that “the law tomorrow is the same as the law yesterday” when it comes to one’s right to criticise judgments and policies, and disagree with rulings. Mr Shanmugam said the new law does not affect what people have already being doing – unless they decide they want to start publicly attacking witnesses, attacking judges, and trying to get certain results from the court. He stressed that public discussions are not prohibited per se, and that the question is whether such discussions prejudice court proceedings or pose a real risk of doing so.

Indeed, the crux of Mr Shanmugam’s message was that the government has consciously chosen to stick to the law as developed by the Singapore courts, except for one change – where the threshold for being in contempt by scandalising the court has been lowered. Previously, for a statement to be in contempt, it had to have a “real risk” of scandalising the judiciary. Now, the word “real” has been dropped. He also dismissed the notion that opinions aired over coffeeshop talk or Facebook updates could be considered contempt. “If the law yesterday is the same as the law tomorrow, have you seen anyone being charged for sitting in a coffeeshop and talking about cases? You know, I think we want a debate that engages honestly on the facts,” said Mr Shanmugam, chiding those who had suggested that one could now be in contempt just by making a comment to a friend over a meal.

Read more at: News.asiaone.com/news/singapore/contempt-court-law-passed-after-seven-hour-debate

Bondsman in Seminole County – Global law firm announces new route into legal profession

Source     : Australasian Lawyer
By            : AAL
Category : Bail Bondsman in Sanford , Bondsman in Seminole County

Global law firm announces new route into legal profession

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has announced that it is to launch a new apprenticeship scheme for paralegals based in its global legal services centre in the UK. The firm is the latest to offer apprenticeships following the approval of the Apprenticeship Standards in Law last year. Kennedys and Irwin Mitchell are among the others that have responded to the opportunity. Regulators have been keen to create new routes into the legal profession and the Freshfield’s program, which is in partnership with the University of Law, will enable students to learn while they earn. For the law firm, the apprenticeship scheme is a new way to nurture talent and attract those who may otherwise be unable to afford the cost of law school.

HSF advised Propertylink on successful $503 million IPO
Herbert Smith Freehills recently advised Australian real estate investment firm Propertylink on its AU$503.5 million IPO of stapled securities to institutional and retail investors, along with an internal restructuring of the firm. The HSF team was led by corporate partner Philip Podzebenko and included partners Philip Hart and Justin O’Farrell.

Gilbert + Tobin was also involved in the deal as legal counsel to the joint lead managers on the IPO (the Australian arms of Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan).
King & Wood Mallesons and Allens acted as legal advisers to the co-investors in the Propertylink Australian Industrial Partnership which was part of the internal restructure. A separate debt-facility agreement negotiated with Westpac was handled by the HSF financing team which team included partners Melita Cottrell and Philip McMahon, senior associate Adam Roberts and graduate Alice Li.

KWM lawyers named as ‘IP Stars’
Nine lawyers from King & Wood Mallesons’ Australian and Chinese practices have been named IP Stars by international industry guide Managing Intellectual Property. The Australian lawyers named are Kim O’Connell, Matt Swinn, John Swinson, Katrina Rathie and Scott Bouvier; along with China’s Zhu Nongfan, Wang Maohua, Shi Yusheng and Fred Liao.

Read more at: australasianlawyer.com.au/news/global-law-firm-announces-new-route-into-legal-profession-221688.aspx

Seminole County Bail Bonds – North Carolina asks Supreme Court to reinstate voter ID law

Source     : Politico
By            : Josh Gerstein
Category : Seminole County Bail Bonds , Bail Bondsman in Sanford

North Carolina asks Supreme Court to reinstate voter ID law

North Carolina officials are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate key parts of the state’s voter ID law blocked last month after a federal appeals court found that the measure intentionally targeted African-Americans. Lawyers for the state filed an emergency application with Chief Justice John Roberts on Monday in an attempt to allow officials to conduct this November’s election using the law’s the photo ID requirement and reduce the number of early voting days from 17 to 10. The motion, prepared by former George W. Bush administration Solicitor General Paul Clement, paints the 4th Circuit ruling as a deliberate and insubordinate assault on the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder, freeing North Carolina and areas in 14 other states from having to “preclear” changes to voting rules under the Voting Rights Act.

“The … fundamental problem with the Fourth Circuit’s decision is its complete misapprehension of the legal principles that govern an intentional discrimination inquiry,” the state’s application says. “Left standing, its decision not only will threaten voter-ID laws throughout the country despite this Court’s decision in Crawford, but also will gut this Court’s decision in Shelby County.” The motion filed by the state and Republican Gov. Pat McCrory also says: “If a voter-ID law can still be invalidated as intentionally discriminatory even when, as here, a State has done everything possible to avoid discriminatory impact, then no voter-ID law is safe. Under the Fourth Circuit’s unprecedented analysis, by contrast, the mere potential for retrogressive impact suffices to give rise to an inference of discriminatory intent—even if, as the District Court found here, retrogressive impact will not actually result.” Roberts is likely to refer the application to the full court, which is operating shorthanded with just eight justices. The votes of five justices will be needed to put the 4th Circuit ruling on hold. That seems to be an uphill fight, since granting the application will require the vote of at least one of the four Democratic-appointed justices, all of whom dissented in Shelby County.

While the state is seeking to restore the photo ID rules, early voting days reduction and a ban on pre-registration of 16-year-olds, the application does not attempt to reinstate a ban on same-day registration and out-of-precinct voting. North Carolina’s Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper, whose office participated in the defense of the law at the 4th Circuit, is not listed as counsel on the application filed Monday. A spokeswoman said his office is no longer involved in the cases, which were brought by civil rights groups and the Obama administration. They’re expected to oppose the application. The request for an emergency stay came 17 days after the 4th Circuit ruling — a longer delay than many observers expected and McCrory indicated after the loss at the 4th Circuit. The delay could make it less likely that the Supreme Court will step in by putting any action even closer to this fall’s election.

Read more at: politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2016/08/north-carolina-voter-id-law-supreme-court-227043