In a 5 to 4 opinion written by Chief
Justice John Roberts, the USSC ruled that Section 4, which establishes the
formula that determines which jurisdictions are subject to federal
“preclearance” of changes in election laws, is unconstitutional. Congress will
now have to decide which areas of the country still deserve additional federal
scrutiny. That says to Washington, you
cannot discriminate in writing laws – even laws that try to end discrimination.
Imagine the Civil Rights Act of 1964
and subsequent laws drafted from its framework being addressed only to the
former confederate states. No one in an
elected office would have voted for that; yet, we passed a law that allows the
U.S. Justice Department to discriminate in their jurisdictional coverage of the
VRA.
To be sure, in the short term there will be all kinds of
fall out from this USSC ruling that will not be nice, or fair, or even logical.
(The court doesn’t always make logical sense.) But if Congress can get its head
screwed on straight, (THAT IS A BIG IF) it will realize that all 50 states
should be brought under section 4 of the VRA. Then the discrepancies within the
law, about which it was sued over, will disappear.
Arizona and Alaska and Alabama will be covered the same as
California, North Dakota and Minnesota. All of the country – every American
will have the protection of the VRA covering their state’s handling of election
on a free and open basis.
There is a lot of discord about the ruling right now, but if
all of America can be covered by the new section 4, then all of America will be
better for it. And in that way, the law itself will not discriminate, as it
does now.
There are moves afoot in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wisconsin to
subdue voter roles and purge certain elements of society from those roles.
Those states ARE NOT covered by the VRA.
And that is wrong.
To those who are arguing against the ruling, I understand.
Especially with the Citizen United ruling having preceded this one, it seems as
if the court is favoring the GOP and big business more than the individual. But
in the decision it is pointed out that the law itself violates the equality
clause, because it does not treat every state equally. You can’t get around that. Sure the states like Texas, Tennessee and
Mississippi would love to railroad blacks and Hispanics out of the voting
booth. But the law has to be applied equally to all states. That is in our
constitution. It is what the five justices found wrong with the rule of law
they acted upon.
They did NOT strike down the Voting Rights Act. They simply
said Section 4 had to meet the fair and balanced test of the equality of law
that all constitutional questions are put up against.
I am all for the VRA.
Always have been. But Congress
has to make it stronger and more universal. The court has said so. And whether
you like it or not, that is now the law of the land.
So if you want to bitch and moan, do so. But if you want to make a difference, I would
suggest you get busy and send people to Washington who can affect just and fair
laws for everyone.
On another note:
I witnessed our lawmakers in special session in Austin last
night and I can say if this is government of the people and for the people,
America is in dangerous shape and equally dangerous hands.
I fear the divisions within our country will grow wider and
wider, if underhanded business like the actions of the Texas Senate continue
across this land. David Dewhurst is to be held responsible for the chaos, which
ensued. That wasn’t leadership, that was despotism.
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