Voting Rights Are on the Supreme Court’s Chopping Block
Tuesday's case pits fanciful claims of racial harmony against the reality of ongoing discrimination.
The current Supreme Court, helmed by Chief Justice John Roberts, has been focused on chipping away at civil rights laws and policies for 20 years.
On Tuesday, the justices will hear oral arguments in a case that could represent not just another chip, but a fatal blow to the load-bearing pillar of American multi-racial democracy: The 1965 Voting Rights Act.
The Republican wing is ready to jettison a seminal protection for minority voters.
Section 2 of the VRA requires that people of color have an equal opportunity to elect representatives of their choice.
The goal of the legislation was to end the Jim Crow system in which Black people were shut out of the political process, particularly in the former confederate states.
Author's summary: Supreme Court to hear case on Voting Rights Act.