Reuters: Politics: Supreme Court strikes down key part of Voting Rights Act

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Supreme Court strikes down key part of Voting Rights Act Jun 25th 2013, 14:35 Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Justices duck major ruling on affirmative action Mon, Jun 24 2013 U.S. justices to hear EPA appeal over air pollution rule Mon, Jun 24 2013 Justices to hear presidential 'recess appointments' case Mon, Jun 24 2013 Justices block generic drug liability lawsuits Mon, Jun 24 2013 UPDATE 3-U.S. justices narrow workers' ability to press bias cases Mon, Jun 24 2013 Analysis & Opinion Journalists and the Espionage Act: Prosecution risk is remote but real SEC should force companies to disclose their political spending A policeman and his bomb sniffing dog walk in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, April 17, 2013. Credit: Reuters/Larry Downing By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON | Tue Jun 25, 2013 10:35am EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a major blow to civil rights activists, the Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down an important part of a 48-year-old federal law designed to protect minority voters. The court ruled on a 5-4 vote in favor of officials from Shelby County, Alabama, in finding that a section of the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act that sets the formula that determines which states need federal approval to change voting laws is invalid. Writing for the majority, conservative Chief Justice John Roberts said the coverage formula that Congress used when it most recently reauthorized the law in 2006 should have been updated. "Congress did not use the record it compiled to shape a coverage formula grounded in current conditions," he wrote. "It instead re-enacted a formula based on 40-year-old facts having no logical relationship to the present day." The court, split on ideological lines, did not go as far as striking down Section 5 of the law, known as the preclearance provision, which requires certain states to get approval from the Justice Department or a federal court before making election-law changes. But a majority did invalidate Section 4 of the act, which sets the formula for states covered by Section 5 and was based on historic patterns of discrimination against minority voters. Although Section 5 is technically left intact, it is effectively nullified, at least for the near future, as Congress would now need to pass new legislation setting a new formula before it can be applied again. As a result, the ruling is a heavy blow for civil rights advocates, who believe the loss of a working preclearance program could lead to an increase in attempts to deter minorities from voting. They say that 31 proposals made by covered jurisdictions to modify election laws have been blocked by the Justice Department under Section 5 since the law was re-enacted in 2006. The case is Shelby County v. Holder, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 12-96. (Reporting by Lawrence Hurley; Editing by Howard Goller and Will Dunham) Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (1) Protecting minority voters? If the pile of Democrap their their cherries on top Mccain and Rubio have their way and the Crimmigration reform bill by the Gangster 8 is allowed to pass they won't need minority protections because 3rd world criminals will be a majority in this country! Jun 25, 2013 10:29am EDT  --  Report as abuse See All Comments » Add Your Comment

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