Legal experts say the 6-3 decision, which all but invalidates the Voting Rights Act, will constrict Black political representation for a generation.
Intended to provide Black voters an equal opportunity at political power, the Voting Rights Act is an important lever to prevent discrimination at the ballot box. But legal experts warn a Supreme Court decision hollowing out the law could reshape representation for a generation. Credit: Getty Images
Overview:
By undercutting Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the Supreme Court has fundamentally altered the rules of representation, setting off a new era of legal and political battles over who gets power — and who loses it.
When the Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision on Wednesday that all but invalidates the Voting Rights Act, legal and voting-rights analysts called it a knockout blow to a powerful tool against racial discrimination at the ballot box. Political analysts predicted it would dismantle Black political power for a generation — or longer.
Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, was more succinct: “It’s evil genius, man.”
“This is a really slick opinion” that technically leaves the Voting Rights Act in place, but dismantles the enforcement mechanism and prevents an easy legislative fix, he says. “It ends up being a rewriting of the VRA” that “usurps” Congress’s power to write laws.
“We’re left with rights on paper but very few remedies, in fact,” Hewitt says. “This is about as bad as it gets.”
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