SCOTUS: Voters Rights Act (Shelby County v Holder)
Useful searches for all the news on the case:
So, SCOTUS is completely screwed on the Voting Rights Act. Alito makes a specious claim about some states being observed more than others. All states are under observation, of course; some states have more systemic problems, are historically more problematic, and never mind that geography and populations change from state to state. Florida, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Ohio, Texas are going to get more attention than Wyoming, for example, and for good reason. Kennedy actually compared the act to the Marshall Plan and seems to think racism is some old war we fought 60 years ago, or something. It’s as if Kennedy believes civil rights ended back in the mid-60s. Kennedy is clearing playing the “Who’s the got two hands and is the swing vote? This guy!” game.
It’s clear the conservative justices, like Scalia, are simply coming out as worried racists, more worried about white people being afraid to express their racist bullshit in public because of black power, which apparently rewards oppressed voters—a monolith in these arguments represented by black people—for living under oppression. White people apparently still believe that black people have gamed patriarchal white supremacist capitalism to earn rewards and are teaching other oppressed members of the population how to beat white people at their own game. Rather Arch Conspiracy Theory, no?
It’s terrifying: who would argue that Voting Rights is equivalent to racial entitlement? Scalia, Alito, Roberts, and Thomas, that’s who. Get ready for the evisceration of the Voter’s Rights Act in June.
Don Verelli is the worst. How bad can a Solicitor General be? He cannot make a good argument. It’s like the government doesn’t really give a shit.
