Supreme Court Again Revisits Voting Rights, Ignores Its Own Past
Mainstream media is on tenterhooks as the Supreme Court rehear arguments on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act regarding Louisiana's congressional map. They frame this as a 'simple question' with 'far-reaching consequences,' while sidestepping the historical irony. Remember 2013? That's when the same court, in Shelby County v. Holder , eviscerated Section 5 of the VRA—the part that required states
with a documented history of racist voting practices to get federal approval for changes. Now, they wring their hands over Section 2, the 'primary way plaintiffs can challenge racially discriminatory election practices,' after removing the preventative measure designed to stop discrimination from happening in the first place. This isn't just a legal debate; it's a slow, deliberate erosion of
protections. How many pieces of critical civil rights legislation must be chipped away before we admit whose rights are truly being 'protected' here?