#SCOTUS takes up #Republican attack on #VotingRightsAct in case over #Black representation

A Republican attack on a core provision of the #VRA that is designed to protect racial minorities comes to SCOTUS this week, more than a decade after the justices knocked out another pillar of the 60-year-old #law.

#gerrymandering #RepresentationMatters #VotingRights
https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-voting-rights-race-louisiana-348260f08099d087bcde4a93140aa8b2

The challenged provision relies on “current conditions”

Challenges under the provision known as Section 2 of the #VRA #law must be able to show current racially polarized voting & an inability of minority populations to elect candidates of their choosing, among other factors.

“Race is still very much a factor in current voting patterns in the state of Louisiana. It’s true in many places in the country,” said Sarah Brannon, deputy director of the ACLU’s #VotingRights Project.

#SCOTUS

“Our country has changed, & 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,” #JohnRoberts wrote [from his rich #WhitePrivilege perch].

#law #SCOTUS #ActivistCourt #VRA #VotingRights #gerrymandering #RepresentationMatters #Trump #WhiteSupremacy

“It is a sordid business, this divvying us up by race,” #JohnRoberts wrote in a dissenting opinion in 2006 in his first major #VotingRights case as chief justice.

In 2013, Roberts wrote for the majority in gutting the landmark law’s requirement that states & local governments with a history of #discrimination, mostly in the South, get approval before making any election-related changes.

#law #SCOTUS #ActivistCourt #VRA #gerrymandering #RepresentationMatters #Trump #WhiteSupremacy

The conservative-dominated court, which just two years ago ended #AffirmativeAction in college admissions, could be receptive. At the center of the legal fight is Chief Justice #JohnRoberts, who has long had the landmark #CivilRights law in his sights, from his time as a young lawyer in the Reagan-era #DOJ to his current job.

#law #SCOTUS #ActivistCourt #VRA #VotingRights #gerrymandering #RepresentationMatters #Trump #WhiteSupremacy

In arguments Wednesday, lawyers for #Louisiana & the #Trump admin will try to persuade the justices to wipe away the state’s second majority #Black congressional district & make it much harder, if not impossible, to take account of #race in #redistricting.

“Race-based redistricting is fundamentally contrary to our Constitution,” Louisiana AG Elizabeth Murrill wrote in the state’s Supreme Court filing.

#law #SCOTUS #ActivistCourt #VRA #gerrymandering #RepresentationMatters #VotingRights

#SCOTUS takes up #Republican attack on #VotingRightsAct in case over #Black representation

A Republican attack on a core provision of the #VRA that is designed to protect racial minorities comes to SCOTUS this week, more than a decade after the justices knocked out another pillar of the 60-year-old #law.

#gerrymandering #RepresentationMatters #VotingRights
https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-voting-rights-race-louisiana-348260f08099d087bcde4a93140aa8b2