John Paul Stevens, U.S. Supreme Court justice. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
John Lamperti and Arlene Ash | Truthout | July 17, 2013
“Supreme Court Shreds Key Provision of the Voting Rights Act” was a typical news headline June 26, this one from the National Journal. According to Vermont’s Patrick Leahy, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, the court’s decision in the case known as Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder, Attorney General, et al. “effectively struck down the core” of the law. [1]”Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act has protected minorities of all races from discriminatory practices in voting for nearly 50 years,” Leahy explained, “yet the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the coverage formula effectively guts the ability of Section 5 to protect voters from discriminatory practices.” Rep. John Lewis said the court’s decision “put a dagger in the heart” of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). The 5-4 decision has been widely condemned, but undoing the damage anytime soon will be difficult.
This ruling is the third time in the past five years that the Supreme Court has struck a blow against fair elections. The infamous 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission opened the door to vastly increased spending by special interests seeking to influence elections. In his dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens argued that the Citizens United decision “threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions across the Nation. … A democracy cannot function effectively when its constituent members believe laws are being bought and sold.”Maine Senator Olympia Snowe, one of the last “moderate Republicans,” commented that “today’s decision was a serious disservice to our country.” The 2012 election campaigns were subsequently polluted by an obscene and unprecedented $7-plus billion in spending by campaigns, party groups and PACs, super PACs and “outside groups.”
Even so, an earlier and less well-known Supreme Court decision competes with these two for the damage it has done to electoral democracy. The Court’s 2008 ruling in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board upheld a restrictive Indiana voter ID law. This cleared the way for a flood of state laws making it harder for many low-income and minority citizens to vote. Widely promoted by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a right-wing think tank that produces “model” legislation for state legislatures, ID requirements and other restrictive voting laws plagued the 2012 elections in more than 30 states.
Daily Queer News 