The River Wanders...

sarahlee310:

A key pillar of American civil rights law is now in danger of being nullified by the Supreme Court. 

Shelby County, Alabama, is seeking to have Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, the law that first guaranteed the right of blacks in the South to vote, declared unconstitutional. Section 5 forces areas of the country with a history of discrimination—mostly, but not entirely in the South—to ask the Department of Justice for its approval before making any changes to election rules. The DOJ is then supposed to ensure any changes protect Americans’ voting rights. The law has a provision allowing jurisdictions to “bail out,” but conservatives have repeatedly challeged the law as unconstitutional federal overreach that is no longer necessary because America has transcended its history of racial discrimination. The Supreme Court announced Friday that it would take up the case.  

The last time conservatives challenged Section 5, in 2009, the Supreme Court handed down a very narrow 8-1 ruling (Clarence Thomas was the only dissenter) that did not declare the law unconstitutional. 

The fact that the court is taking up a Section 5 case again so soon suggests strongly that the intent is to strike down part or all of the Voting Rights Act.

Although Section 5 survived in 2009, conservative justices appeared to believe that the law was discriminatory—against Southern white people. “Is it your position that today Southerners are more likely to discriminate than Northerners?” Chief Justice John Roberts demanded of the attorney defending the Voting Rights Act at the time. Despite the 8-1 vote, the 2009 decision was widely seen as leaving Section 5 hanging by a thread. The justices hinted very strongly that Congress, which had just reauthorized the Voting Rights Act in its entirety in 2006, should change the law soon or risk it being declared unconstitutional next time around. 

Now it looks like the conservatives on the court will get their chance. A cursory review of recent Republican shenanigans with voting rules should put the notion that the VRA is obsolete entirely to bed. With voting growing more racially polarized, the temptations to alter voting rules to disenfranchise particular constituencies is obvious. Indeed, the Department of Justice successfully challenged Texas’ redistricting map because it diluted the voting power of Latinos. If the court strikes Section 5 down, one of the most effective and important powers the federal government has for ensuring that the right to vote is not abridged on the basis of race will be destroyed.

I knew this was probably coming, but damned if it still doesn’t knock me over.  All the more reason to keep your campaign groups together and working on issues - ready to hit the 2014 elections with a lot of well backed progressive candidates.  And keep 2020 on your calendar - when the next census occurs and IF we have put the correct folks in state Houses, there will be an opportunity to undo some of the Republican gerrymandering.

(via occupyv)

squashed:

(This particular story seems to have slipped under the media spotlight—so I’d love a signal boost on it.)

The Tea Party has resorted to voter intimidation in Worcester, Massachusetts. This happened at a Democratic Primary a week ago—though speculation is that it was a warm up…

abaldwin360:

After Ohio’s Secretary of State Jon Husted announced last week that early-voting sites across the state would only be open on weekdays, many felt the restriction would unfairly impact “working people” in general, and minorities in particular.

Doug Priesse, chairman of…

reagan-was-a-horrible-president:

winningprogressive:

WP contributor Fay Paxton recounts the challenges she has had in getting the photo ID that Republicans in her state have mandated she needs to be able to vote.

Don’t put off getting registered. The Republicans are making this as hard as they can to discourage people from voting. They can’t win on ideas, because they have none. They can only win by cheating.

(via recall-all-republicans)