“We at Ethical Markets are shocked at this out-of-control Supreme Court , even hearing this case of Alabama v. the Voting Rights Act . This Roberts Court’s appalling record of legislating from the bench , as in their Citizens United decision in 2010 , must be condemned . We especially abhor the remark Justice Scalia is reported by MSNBC to have made at today’s oral arguments , that somehow Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act is “ preserving a racial entitlement “ . This kind of prejudice has no place on our highest court. Everyone has the right to vote !” — Hazel Henderson, Editor.
U.S. Supreme Court justices suggested they may cut back the 1965 Voting Rights Act, saying Congress was using an outdated formula to decide which states must comply with a core provision of the landmark law.
Hearing arguments Wednesday in Washington, the court’s Republican-appointed justices — including the likely swing vote, Justice Anthony Kennedy — expressed skepticism about the law’s requirement that all or parts of 16 states get federal clearance before changing their voting rules. The court’s Democratic appointees voiced support for the law.
The case threatens one of the signature achievements of the civil rights movement, a law aimed at the discrimination that had kept generations of Southern blacks from voting. Together with a separate fight over university affirmative action, the voting case may make the current Supreme Court term a watershed for the legal rules governing race, rolling back decades-old protections. The court will rule in both cases by June.Read More