In addition, we cited, perhaps for obvious reasons, the statute from Texas, which provided statutory guidelines for defining that.
It is only this limiting construction which saves the statute from the constitutional challenge that it is overly broad.
Instead, in an apparent attempt to show how neutral the statute is, the state's lawyers unmoored the statute from the history cited by Justice Thomas.
"We are gearing up for the effective date of the statute from the enforcement standpoint," said Brian Huseman, a F.T.C. staff lawyer who works on spam litigation.
Both a Federal District Court and the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit have blocked four parts of the statute from going into effect because they so clearly usurp federal authority.
Jameel Jaffer, a lawyer with the A.C.L.U., said the decision "insulates the statute from meaningful judicial review and leaves Americans' privacy rights to the mercy of the political branches".
The Federal District Court in Maine, ruling in a challenge brought by the industry, blocked the statute from taking effect on the ground that it was not authorized by the federal Medicaid law.
Joining Mr. Fisher in arguing for the state on Wednesday, Mr. Clement said the court should wait for a case to be brought by someone who was actually barred by the statute from casting a ballot.
