“Neil Gorsuch Declares War on the Voting Rights Act”

Mark Joseph Stern for Slate:

What may be most remarkable about Monday’s decision in Abbott v. Perez, however, is Justice Neil Gorsuch’s effort to position himself as a fierce opponent of the Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court already gutted a central provision of the VRA in 2013’s Shelby County v. Holder. Now, in Perez, Gorsuch has joined Justice Clarence Thomas’ crusade to hobble the law even further by holding that it does not prohibit racial gerrymandering. Were the court to adopt Gorsuch’s interpretation, the VRA could never again be used to stop racist mapmakers from diluting minority votes.

Mark has also written: Sam vs. Sonia: Alito believes states deserve our sympathy in voting rights disputes. Sotomayor thinks minority voters do. So far, Alito is winning.

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