"[Rethuglican] Judge Robert Simpson of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania seems to assume that legislators have a high-minded public purpose for the laws they pass. That’s why, on Wednesday morning, he refused to grant an injunction to halt a Republican-backed voter ID law that could disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of poor and minority state residents in November. [snip]
"There is no evidence that Judge Simpson contorted law and precedent to reach his conclusion. He even described Mr. Turzai’s comment* as 'disturbing' and 'tendentious.' But his ruling, in a case brought by potentially disenfranchised voters, is a clear and disturbing illustration of the way Republicans have manipulated legislation for their own ends, placing a veneer of civic responsibility on a low-minded and sleazy political ploy."
*"Mr. Turzai" is Pennsylvania Rethuglican House Majority Leader Mike "Turd" Turzai, who said, "Voter ID, which is gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania, done.” The entire editorial is worth a read.
