Shelby
v Holder was a 5-4 Supreme Court decision ruling two provisions of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 unconstitutional.
This was perhaps one of the most significant cases, with regards to
civil liberties, decided in the conservative Roberts court thus far. Leading to a plethora of new voting
qualifications throughout the country, the holding in this case had fundamental
implications for the future voting rights of Americans.
The facts are fairly straight
forward, with the case arising out of Shelby County, Alabama (surrounding
Birmingham, Alabama). The
constitutionality of Section 4(b) and Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of
1965 were brought before the Supreme Court.
The constitutional question was whether the renewal of Section 5 of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 violated the 15th Amendment of the United
States Constitution, thus violating 10th Amendment and Article 4 of
the Constitution. Specifically, Section
4(b) provided criteria or a specific equation for counties and states that
would be accountable to Section 5 of the Act.
Section 5 stated that those counties and states that qualified under
Section 4(b) of the act would need to acquire preclearance from the Department
of Justice before changing their state’s voting laws. The necessity for these requirements within
the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were mandated from the political, social, and
cultural racism and disenfranchisement of African Americans in the United
States, especially within the South.
The Supreme Court ruled that Section
4(b) was in violation of the United States Constitution because the
criteria/equation used to determine which counties and states would need
preclearance were statistically invalid.
The data used to justify the law was the same data used 40 years prior
with the passage of the Act. The Court
ruled that the data was statistically invalid to accurately reflect the present. By default, this ruled Section 5
unconstitutional as well.
President Obama, as well as many
other Americans, were outraged by the Supreme Court decision. The unconstitutionality of these provisions
paved the way for states to pass new voting rights laws without the preclearance
from the federal government. With this
ruling a plethora of strict voting ID laws and other laws aimed to disenfranchise
specific voting populations were passed throughout the country. As this holding recedes into the distant past
it will be interesting to look at the new voting laws passed by the individual
states. Shelby County v Holder has created new dynamic with regards to how
easily states can change their voting laws.
If I'm understanding this all correctly, this decision enables states to determine laws that can make it hard for say, illegal aliens, or new foreign members of the US, to vote. Just as this was done for African Americans in the past, we are now bringing back this same form of racism to individuals that we don't want in the country, or having a right within our country. It's the same situation, that has so clearly spread from African Americans to hispanics, and other prominent races that in recent years have immigrated here. It also shows the power structure within the United States, and how those of us who are not within the government or have explicit ways to make decisions and changes, we are all vulnerable to this.
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