“Antonin Scalia’s Uber-Activism”
The Economist‘s “Democracy in America” blogs.
Category Archives: Voting Rights Act
“In Voting Rights, Scalia Sees a ‘Racial Entitlement'”
Amy Davidson blogs for The New Yorker.
Hebert and Derfner on Section 5 vs. Section 2
Important blog post:
We were both in the courtroom yesterday for the oral argument in the Shelby County, Alabama, voting rights case, and were particularly struck by one aspect of the arguments: the strange persistence of the myth that… Continue reading
“Key provision of Voting Rights Act imperiled”
Marcia Coyle reports for NLJ.
Mary Orndorff Troyan on Shelby County Case
One of the best reporters covering how Shelby County is playing in covered jurisdictions is Gannett’s Mary Orndorff Troyan. Gannett stories often don’t come up in my news searches for some reason, so here’s some catchup on three recent stories:… Continue reading
“Testimony Before the Senate Judiciary Committee: ‘The Citizens United Court and the Continuing Importance of the Voting Rights Act'”
Anthony Johnstone has posted recent Senate testimony on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
This testimony concerns the role of the Supreme Court in reviewing the constitutionality of “laws of democracy,” including campaign finance regulation, election administration, and voting rights enforcement.… Continue reading
“Voting Law Decision Could Sharply Limit Scrutiny of Rules”
Must-read Charlie Savage NYT report on the difference between sections 2 and 5 of the Voting Rights Act begins:
If the Supreme Court strikes down or otherwise guts a centerpiece of the Voting Rights Act, there will be far less… Continue reading
Mega-Shelby County Roundup
Yesterday I posted roundups of news stories and commentaries from yesterday’s voting rights oral argument at the Supreme Court in posts here, here, and here. I had two substantive posts on the oral argument, one predicting the … Continue reading
Scalia in Shelby County Case: Do States Need Special Protection from Courts?
I was struck by this statement from Justice Scalia today at the oral argument in the Shelby County case:
The problem here, however, is suggested by the comment I made earlier, that the initial enactment of this legislation in a… Continue reading
Upcoming Speaking Gigs
On Monday March 4, I’ll be on a panel about the Shelby County voting rights case at a symposium on voting rights at UC Berkeley.
On Tuesday, March 5, at noon, I’ll be speaking on “The Voting Wars Revisited”… Continue reading
Would Torts Plaintiffs Lawyers Secretly Hope for SCOTUS to Strike Down Section 5 of Voting Rights Act?
A longtime ELB reader writes:
I don’t know if anyone has written about this, but the PI plaintiffs’ bar might be secretly rooting for the Supreme Court to strike down section 5. In California and in other states, plaintiffs have… Continue reading
More Early Oral Argument Stories
Ari Berman at the Nation: “It quickly became clear inside the courtroom that there are four votes to uphold Section 5 and four votes to strike it down. Justice Kennedy, as is so often the case, appears to be the… Continue reading
Pildes: Did Congress Abdicate Its Responsibility to Update the Voting Rights Act?
The following is a guest post from Rick Pildes:
In light of today’s oral argument concerning the constitutionality of Section 5 of the VRA, I remain deeply disappointed that Congress did nothing in 2006 either to update the scope of… Continue reading
No Hope: Reading the Tea Leaves in the Voting Rights Case
Yes, it is true that most of us (including me) predicted the Supreme Court would strike down section 5 of the Voting Rights Act back in 2009 in the NAMUDNO case. In that case, however, the Court punted, with… Continue reading