Mighty Monte Marbley Is A Righteous Dude!

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, Senate President Keith Faber and Gov. John Kasich, Republicans all, have had a bad couple weeks in federal court.

First, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Watson (R) struck down a recent Ohio law which eliminated the "golden week" prior to the November election when people could both register vote and cast a ballot -- a practice widely used by African Americans across the state.  Eliminating the week, Watson found, was unnecessarily burdensome and restrictive upon that community.

Then the R's were shot down again yesterday when U.S. District Court Judge Algenon L. Marbley (D) ruled that restrictive voting laws passed by Ohio's GOP-dominated leadership violated both Constitutional guarantees of equal protection and the Voting Rights Act.  His decision will ban parts of the law which require absentee and provisional ballots be thrown out for trivial reasons, and prohibit poll workers from helping voters with questions or problems.

Marbley was powerful and forthright in his decision, writing:

"The court is deeply troubled by the flurry of voting-related legislation, all of which sought to limit the precious right to the franchise, and most of which was a peripatetic solution in search of a problem."

"The Ohio General Assembly took action after the disastrous 2004 election to expand voters' access to absentee and provisional balloting, and the rollback of these improvements will have a discriminatory impact on African-American voters and disproportionately harm [them]."

"If the dog-whistles in the General Assembly continue to get louder, courts considering future challenges to voting restrictions in Ohio may very well find that intentional discrimination is afoot."

In other words -- Husted, Faber, Kasich, cut the crap!  What you're trying to do is obvious, and it's an illegal suppression of likely opposition voters.  You can whine all you like about unelected judges and judicial activism, but your position/scheme is blatant and it just won't stand.

Mighty Monte Marbley has ruled!
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(I was briefly introduced to the Honorable Judge Marbley at a wedding reception a few years back.  The bride is the daughter of a good friend and neighbor who's another of those doggone unelected federal judges.  He told me all of Marbley's friends and fellow judges call him "Monte."  Although I don't know Judge Marbley personally, and it's highly unlikely he'll ever read this, I hope he wouldn't object to my use of his nickname.)