06.25.13

A sad day in the United States

Posted in Around The Nation, Around The State, Elections, Had Enough Yet? at 5:15 pm by wcnews

While Chief Justice John Roberts is right that “our country has changed”, the South hasn’t. As the recent NYT article shows. Here’s the last paragraph of Roberts opinion, via TPM, Supreme Court Guts The Voting Rights Act.

“Our decision in no way affects the permanent, nationwide ban on racial discrimination in voting found in §2. We issue no holding on §5 itself, only on the coverage formula. Congress may draft another formula based on current conditions,” Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. “Such a formula is an initial prerequisite to a determination that exceptional conditions still exist justifying such an ‘extraordinary departure from the traditional course of relations between the States and the Federal Government.’ … Our country has changed, and while any racial discrimination in voting is too much, Congress must ensure that the legislation it passes to remedy that problem speaks to current conditions.”

The dissent was bitter, Justice Ginsburg Slams Supreme Court’s ‘Hubris’ In Fiery Dissent On Voting Rights Act.

“The sad irony of today’s decision lies in its utter failure to grasp why the VRA has proven effective,” she wrote. “The Court appears to believe that the VRA’s success in eliminating the specific devices extant in 1965 means that preclear­ance is no longer needed. … With that belief, and the argument derived from it, history repeats itself.”

One irony is that the reason the changes have occurred in voting is only because of the VRA and preclearance. Without it voting will become much harder for many until we finally make voting a right in the United States of America.Please sign the petition to join Daily Kos, Color of Change, and a growing movement to pass a constitutional amendment guaranteeing and protecting the freedom to vote for all.

The state of Texas has wasted no time in moving it’s voter disenfranchisement plan forward, Photo ID now required for voting in Texas.

Further Reading:
Brains and Eggs, John Roberts: “Our country has changed”.
TXRedistricting, Supreme Court strikes down section 5 coverage formula – the impact for Texas.

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