Category Archives: Voting Rights Act

Section 2: Under Construction?

March 18, 2014, 10:21 amVoting Rights ActJustin Levitt

Rick linked, here, to an argument by Mr. Clegg and Mr. von Spakovsky about the proper construction of section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The argument is predicated on the notion that it’s constitutionally questionable to construe section… Continue reading

DOJ Shifts Voting Section Priorities after Shelby County Guts Section 5

March 18, 2014, 10:07 amDepartment of Justice, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

From DOJ’s budget submission to Congress (p. 44): Because of the Shelby County case, the Voting Section’s work will necessarily shift to greater affirmative efforts to detect and investigate voting practices that violate federal law, to more affirmative litigation to… Continue reading

On the Road to Arguing for the Unconstitutionality of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act

March 17, 2014, 9:20 pmThe Voting Wars, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

I’ve been sounding this alarm for a while, beginning with leading up to the Shelby County oral argument. Opponents of the constitutionality of Voting Rights Act Section 5 made the claim, among others, that Section 5 was no longer necessary… Continue reading

“Legal Center Warns Jasper, Texas that Proposed Annexations Could Lead to Violations of Voting Rights Act”

March 17, 2014, 1:45 pmVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

See here.

“Free at Last: Rejecting Equal Sovereignty and Restoring the Constitutional Right to Vote: Shelby County v. Holder”

March 14, 2014, 7:34 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

James Blacksher and Lani Guinier have posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, Harvard Law and Policy Review). Here is the abstract: The “equal sovereignty” principle the Supreme Court majority relied on in Shelby County v. Holder to strike down the… Continue reading

Roll Call on Whether Cantor Will Support New Voting Rights Act

March 12, 2014, 12:43 pmVoting Rights Act, VRAARick Hasen

Here.

Cantor Non-Committal, Hoyer Optimistic, on VRAA Bill

March 12, 2014, 7:57 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights Act, VRAARick Hasen

Cantor is the key player in the House on whether we will see a legislative response to fix the Voting Rights Act after the Supreme Court hobbled a key provision last June in the Shelby County case.

“Santa Clarita Votes To Settle California Voting Rights Act Lawsuit”

March 12, 2014, 7:43 amVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

And cumulative voting is in the mix.

“Protecting Voting Rights in Alabama”

March 8, 2014, 9:22 pmelection administration, voter id, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

NAACP LDF: As part of our efforts to protect the right to vote across the country, LDF’s Political Participation Group wrote a letter to the Alabama Secretary of State, Jim Bennett, urging him to allow thousands of people to… Continue reading

Senator Ted Cruz Distorts Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Holding

March 6, 2014, 9:03 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

By all indications Sen.Ted Cruz is a brilliant lawyer. So I take his mischaracterizing of the Supreme Court’s Shelby County case as being disingenuous and not simply misguided. Sen. Cruz writes: It is disturbing that new efforts are being made… Continue reading

“Harkin: DOJ Civil Rights Nominee Would Have Been Confirmed If He Was White”

March 5, 2014, 7:06 pmDepartment of Justice, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

HuffPo reports. I have no doubt about that.

James O’Keefe Goes After Sensenbrenner on Provisions of Voting Rights Act Amendments

March 5, 2014, 7:30 amVoting Rights Act, VRAARick Hasen

See J. Christian Adams in the National Review.

“Justice Ginsburg’s Umbrella”

March 4, 2014, 5:39 pmSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Ellen Katz has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, A Nation of Widening Opportunities? The Civil Rights Act at Fifty, Samuel Bagenstos and Ellen Katz, eds., University of Michigan Press, 2014). Here is the abstract: This Essay relies on an… Continue reading