Yesterday I appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee to testify about the Voting Rights Act reauthorization, along with Chandler Davidson, Ted Shaw, Laughlin McDonald, and Sam Issacharoff. The committee has posted witness statements here but they are not in a user-friendly format. An easier to read version of my comments are here, and I invite other participants in this hearing (and others before the Senate) to send me their files for uploading. Today’s hearing is taking place now, and there’s a link to the live judiciary committee feed of the hearing on the website. I don’t think the hearing has been on C-SPAN yet. If I find out it is, I’ll provide a link.
My impression of the hearing is this. This was a really substantive discussion of the issues of constitutionality and potential changes to section 5. Much of the questioning was predictable: Democratic Senators tended to ask questions only of those witnesses who believe that there are no serious questions with the constitutionality of a renewed section 5 and who believe that the Act should be renewed in almost precisely the same form as it is today; Republicans asked questions of Sam and of me, who are more skeptical on both of these points–especially on the constitutional point given the new makeup on the Supreme Court (Sam nicely talked about Justice Kennedy as the median Justice on the Boerne question). But despite this predictability, Sen. Specter, chairman of the committee, appeared genuinely interested in the constitutional questions and in finding ways to strengthen the Act to prevent the courts from striking it down. I think whether or not the current “deal” that is on the table goes through as is or is subject to the close scrutiny it deserves will depend upon what Sen. Specter does.
Hearings continue through next week at least. Soon I’ll have the guest law professor bloggers continuing the discussion on VRA renewal.
I have found one news story covering yesterday’s hearing. The Birmingham News offers Sessions Advises VRA Caution.