SUPREME COURT PLAZA, Washington, DC – On news that the Supreme Court this morning struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Constitutional Accountability Center Civil Rights Director David Gans released the following reaction after exiting the Court:

“Today is a sad day for all Americans who care about protection of one our most fundamental rights, the right to vote. In striking down a core provision of the Voting Rights Act, the Court flouts the text and history of the Fifteenth Amendment, which expressly give to Congress broad powers to prevent and deter all forms of racial discrimination in voting.

“As Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg explained in a powerful dissent, Congress properly used these broad constitutional powers to prevent current and ongoing racial discrimination in voting concentrated in the covered jurisdictions.

“Justice Ginsburg further explained that Congress was not required to update the coverage forumla, bacuse the Voting Rights Act’s 15,000-page record in 2006 shows that pre-clearance continues to cover the jusrisdictions with the worst record of voting discrimination.”

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Resources:

CAC “friend of the court” brief in Shelby County v. Holder, arguing that the text and history of the Fifteenth Amendment require the Voting Rights Act be upheld:

http://theusconstitution.org/sites/default/files/briefs/Constitutional-Accountability-Center-Shelby-Supreme-Court-Amicus.pdf

“How to judge the Supreme Court’s upcoming equality rulings,” Doug Kendall and David Gans, May 31, 2013: http://news.yahoo.com/judge-supreme-court-upcoming-equality-rulings-133411843.html

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Constitutional Accountability Center (www.theusconstitution.org) is a think tank, public interest law firm, and action center dedicated to fulfilling the progressive promise of the Constitution’s text and history.

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