Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Supreme Court Strikes Down Key Provision Of Voting Rights Law : The Two-Way : NPR

Supreme Court Strikes Down Key Provision Of Voting Rights Law : The Two-Way : NPR: By a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court has struck down a key provision of the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act that establishes a formula to identify states that may require extra scrutiny by the Justice Department regarding voting procedures.

The decision focuses on Section 4 of the Act.

Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts writes that the decision "in no way affects the permanent, nationwide ban on racial discrimination in voting found in [Section] 2. We issue no holding on [Section] 5 itself, only on the coverage formula. Congress may draft another formula based on current conditions."

Legal scholar Jeffrey Toobin tells CNN that the court has effectively said "times have changed so much that the formula [for deciding which states are more prone to discriminate] is invalid."

And by striking Section 4, he said, "in practice, the other section of the law – Section 5 — is dormant."