{"id":9499,"date":"2012-08-02T11:01:45","date_gmt":"2012-08-02T11:01:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2012\/08\/02\/a-throwback-to-poll-taxes\/"},"modified":"2012-08-02T11:01:45","modified_gmt":"2012-08-02T11:01:45","slug":"a-throwback-to-poll-taxes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2012\/08\/02\/a-throwback-to-poll-taxes\/","title":{"rendered":"Photo ID: The ‘It Would Disproportionately Affect Hispanic Voters’ Argument"},"content":{"rendered":"

 Here<\/a> (emphasis added) we find:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

In March, the Justice Department denied the Lone Star State the necessary clearance for this new law, arguing that it would disproportionately affect Hispanic voters<\/strong>. Texas officials appealed.  To preserve the access of all citizens to the right to vote . . . the District Court should follow the Justice Department\u2019s lead and strike down this highly suspect and unnecessary law.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What is interesting here is the role disproportionality plays in these leftist attempts at argument.  Let's see if we can uncover the 'logic' of these arguments.<\/span><\/p>\n

Suppose people of Italian  extraction are disproportionately affected by anti-racketeering statutes.  Would this be a good reason to oppose such laws? Obviously not.  Why not? The reason is that the law targets the criminal behavior, not the ethnicity of the criminal. If it just so happens that people of Italian extraction are 'overrepresented' in the memberships of organized crime syndicates, then of course they will be 'disproportionately affected' by anti-racketeering laws.  So what?<\/span><\/p>\n

It is very easy to multiply examples.  Who commits more rapes, men or women?  You know the answer.  Among men, in which age group will we find more rapists?  Will there be more rapists in the 15-45 age group or in the 45-75 age group?  You know the answer. Laws against rape will therefore disproportinately affect males aged 15-45.  Would this be a good reason to oppose such laws? Obviously not.  Why not? The reason is that the law targets the criminal behavior, not the age or sex of the criminal. <\/span><\/p>\n

Suppose that drunk drivers are predominantly Irish.  (Just suppose; I'm not saying it is true.)  Then laws against drunk driving would disproportionatey affect them.  Of course.  But that would be no reason to oppose such laws.  Is a law just only if it affects all groups equally or proportionately?  Of course not. <\/span><\/p>\n

Who is more likely to be a terrorist, a twenty-something  male Egyptian Muslim or a sixty-something Mormon matron?  Do you hesitate over this question?    The answer is clear, and you know what it is.  Are anti-terrorism laws therefore to be opposed on the ground that they disproportionately affect young Muslim males from middle eastern countries?<\/span><\/p>\n

Should there be a quota system when it comes to rounding up terrorists?  "You can apprehend only as many Muslim terrorists as Buddhist terrorists."<\/span><\/p>\n

Suppose child molesters are 'overrepresented' among Catholic priests.  Then laws against such molestation will disproportionarely affect them.  But so what?  It would be morally absurd to argue that such laws 'discriminate' against Catholic priests and should be struck down on the ground that Catholic priests  are disproportionately inclined to engage in child molestation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now we know that illegal aliens in Southwest states such as Texas  are predominantly, indeed overwhelmingly,  of Hispanic extraction.  So such aliens would be disproportionately affected by photo ID<\/a> requirements.  But this is surely no argument against photo ID.  After all, they are not citizens and have no right to vote in the first place.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now consider the Hispanic citizens of Texas. They have the right to vote.  And no decent person wants either to prevent them from exercising their right or to make it more difficult for them to vote than for other groups to vote.  Why would they be 'disproportionately affected' by a photo ID requirement?<\/span><\/p>\n

Is it because Hispanics are less likely to have ID than members of other groups?  Or less likely to have the minimal skills necessary to acquire such ID?  It does, after all, take a tiny bit of effort.  You have to get yourself down to the DMV and fork over a nominal sum.  <\/span><\/p>\n

I myself do not believe that Hispanics as a group are so bereft of life skills that they are incapable of acquiring photo ID.  But that apparently is what Dems believe when they think that a perfectly reasonable requirement would 'disproportinately affect' them.  What an insult to Hispanics!<\/span><\/p>\n

So I ask once again: is there even one decent reason to oppose photo ID? <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

 Here (emphasis added) we find: In March, the Justice Department denied the Lone Star State the necessary clearance for this new law, arguing that it would disproportionately affect Hispanic voters. Texas officials appealed.  To preserve the access of all citizens to the right to vote . . . the District Court should follow the Justice … Continue reading “Photo ID: The ‘It Would Disproportionately Affect Hispanic Voters’ Argument”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9499\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}