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A federal judge in Montgomery has stopped state officials from using Alabama's tough new immigration law to prevent immigrants from renewing required permits on manufactured homes. The judge, Myron H. Thompson of United States District Court, issued a temporary restraining order Wednesday evening that allows Alabama residents to renew registration of manufactured homes without requiring that they prove that they are in the country legally. The deadline for renewing the registration without being fined is Nov. 30. Lawyers for a coalition of civil rights groups said earlier that by refusing to renew the permits, state officials could force people to abandon their homes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The right to vote is sometimes said to be the most fundamental in American democracy. Yet legal challenges to the federal voting rights law are increasing even as they highlight the racial injustices that make it essential. In a ruling last week, Judge John Bates of Federal District Court rightly dismissed such a challenge by Shelby County, Ala., which sought to have a central part of the law declared unconstitutional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]