Court Test for Alabama Challenge to 1965 Voting Rights Act

Court Test for Alabama Challenge to 1965 Voting Rights Act

A federal court in Washington Wednesday heard arguments on a challenge to the Voting Rights Act, a year and a half after the Supreme Court issued an opinion many believe opened the door to undoing the landmark civil rights legislation.

In that 8-1 decision back in 2009, the justices seemed to clear the way for future challenges to the act, while avoiding ruling on the validity of its core provisions. It was originally drafted in 1965 to remedy racial discrimination in voting rules in parts of the South.

Today, Shelby County, Ala., takes center stage as the latest jurisdiction to assert that the noble purposes of the law have been served, and that further enforcement is no longer necessary or legal. The county is going after a provision of the act that mandates that specific portions of 16 states must get approval from the Department of Justice before making any changes to voting procedures.

Those geographic regions were singled out decades ago for practices believed to have disenfranchised black voters.

I am not really sure how I feel about this case. The arguments being made by one group is the act is no longer required because the issue it was designed to fix, does not seem to be an issue anymore. The flip side to that coin is we still have racial issue in this country, so I dont think its the best time to tempt fate so to speak.

If the law is not hurting anyone, leave it in place until such time where once we get rid of it, there will be no reason to re-enact it.

Intresting how laws evolve based on progress of mindset.

reply to post by Xcathdra


For those who would suggest that this law is futile, not needed or no longer applicable to current societal norms, I would certainly ask why they then feel the need to dismantle it?

Efforts to strip constitutional amendments always make me relieved the amendment is there, for they must have significance - otherwise, why would they be attacked?

This is the VOTING RIGHTS ACT. It applies to your right to vote.

Is that significant?