The conservative majority on the Supreme Court just finished off the job these guys couldn’t.
Bloody Sunday – Alabama police attack Selma-to-Montgomery Marchers, 1965.
The Roberts Court finally achieved its years-long goal of killing the Voting Rights Act Wednesday, publishing a ruling that, the liberal justices say, will make proving racial discrimination in redistricting virtually impossible.
“Under the Court’s new view of Section 2, a State can, without legal consequence, systematically dilute minority citizens’ voting power,” wrote Justice Elena Kagan in her dissent.
“Of course, the majority does not announce today’s holding that way. Its opinion is understated, even antiseptic,” she continued. “The majority claims only to be “updat[ing]” our Section 2 law, as though through a few technical tweaks. But in fact, those ‘updates’ eviscerate the law…”
This was, of course, a five-to-three decision. Alito wrote the majority decision. Thomas wrote a concurrence. Kagan wrote a dissent. Here’s everything posted on the SCOTUS website.
Edith Olmsted, The New Republic:
The Supreme Court’s decision will not only affect election results in conservative-led Louisiana for years to come, but it has severely undermined the ability of voters to challenge discrimination under the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits “discrimination against the minority group, such as unusually large election districts,” according to a 1982 report from the the Senate Committee on the Judiciary.
What’s especially heartbreaking is that the effort to pass the 1965 voting Rights Act was one of the most heroic movements of 20th century America. John Lewis, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Ralph Abernathy, Andrew Young, Jesse Jackson were all at Selma. And they are all gone now. Many had died for the cause in the years before the march. these included Medgar Evers, James Earl Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Henry Schwerner, and four innocent little girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. There were many more.
But those insufferable elitist snots on the Supreme Court could just take it away.
The Supreme Court’s six-to-three Republican-appointed majority issued a staggering ruling on Wednesday essentially killing the remaining protections of the Voting Rights Act, dealing a death blow to the country’s most important civil rights law. The majority opinion by Justice Samuel Alito in Louisiana v. Callais strikes down the creation of a second majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana and in so doing narrows Section 2 of the VRA to the point of irrelevance, making it nearly impossible to prove that a gerrymandered map violates the right of voters of color. …
… Justice Elena Kagan forcefully dissented. “I dissent because the Court betrays its duty to faithfully implement the great statute Congress wrote,” she wrote. “I dissent because the Court’s decision will set back the foundational right Congress granted of racial equality in electoral opportunity.”
She added: “Under the Court’s new view of Section 2, a State can, without legal consequence, systematically dilute minority citizens’ voting power. Of course, the majority does not announce today’s holding that way. Its opinion is understated, even antiseptic. The majority claims only to be ‘updat[ing]’ our Section 2 law, as though through a few technical tweaks… But in fact, those ‘updates’ eviscerate the law.”
We came so close to passing the John Lewis Voting Rights bill in 2021. Were it not for Manchin and Sinema, it might have been.
In other news — or just me, venting — Breitbart has a screaming headline saying that North Carolina found 34K dead people on the state voter rolls. Proof of fixed elections! We must pass the SAVE Act Now!!! And I don’t link to Breitbart, but it should be easy to find if you want to read it.
No where in the article does it say that these dead people voted, however. States also keep a record of what elections you vote in, so if any of these dead people had voted after they died the state should be able to see that. But apparently, they’re just dead.
One problem with voter rolls is that there appears to be no automatic mechanism to remove people who have died or moved. I moved from Missouri to New York in 2023; my aunt recently informed me I’d gotten a jury summons from the county in Missouri (she let them know I was unavailable). I was still on the voter rolls. That doesn’t mean I was trying to vote illegally.
Same thing with deaths. There doesn’t seem to be any sort of automatic process that informs county election officials that voters have died. I looked it up and found that states deal with this issue in several ways. In some states, if you haven’t voted for a while your name is automatically removed. A few states attempt to notify the person they’ve been un-registered, but most do not. And then there are at least a few states with no process at all. One assumes that at some point it’s noticed a voter was born in 1892 and hasn’t voted since the 1940s, so he can probably be removed now.
But the fact is that probably all state voter rolls have some dead or moved people on them, and always have, and this by itself it not proof illegal voting is going on. But I’m not even going to try to explain that to a rightie.
There is a quote of some Japanese admiral that he feared Japan had woken a sleeping tiger. I hope that's true. Being 70+ gives me perspective. I don't think my memory is faulty. When I was in my 20s and 30s, I didn't see very many interracial couples. These days, I see several daily. After '64, we had a significant racial merger at school and in the workplace. Forty years on, it won't go away by the stroke of a pen. I think a lot of white people will be upset by attempts to disenfranchise voters.
The GOP is celebrating and will act on this. It will work well in some states, but some purple states will turn blue. Some red states will turn purple. I don't see the prospect of moderate voters joining the KKK.
I hope Democrats will be emboldened to nuke the filibuster and expand the Supreme Court. I'd like the Democrats and especially progressive Dems, get the respect they are owed. I want Democrats to STAY on the offense and gerrymander the crap out of every state where they have a majority and look to the shifting demographics of FL and TX. If/when we have them, the GOP will beg Democrats to abide by the rules they have such contempt for today.
That's when we put up the guardrails of Democracy. The GOP will sign on wholeheartedly when they've been on the bottom of a rigged system they designed.
Best response I've seen so far is "but they do discriminate based on race – 'white' is a race. They're just granting whiteness supremacy, is all."
My favorite personal response:Remember, we elected people to write a law, and they wrote a law, and they carefully documented their intentions in every particular, and, the Roberts court – our *EMPLOYEES*, remember, not our masters! – said "NOPE!" with a sarcastic smirk and did a little victory dance. "We have six republicans; we have six republicans!" would be their childish taunt, said over and over, until (if justice prevailed), they'd "victory dance" so hard they'd fall, and break out two baby teeth.
If, by this, you think I consider the SCOTUS immature for gutting the law, just ruling against the clear letter of the law, because they can, then, yes, I think portraying them as school children being cruel is both mete and appropriate.
It's a sad day, but I have faith it will be reversed. In the meantime, What Shall We Do with the Drunken Hegseth?
A fine tune it is laddie.
Years ago, when one could have a civil conversation with a supremacist party member they talked of big R and little r republicans. Only big R republicans deserved voting rights they dictated. It sounds like that is still Plan A for them. Some of the little r's are catching on, though, and are tiring of being of use only as wannabe big R's. So far, they still get to vote if they stay in line and don't ask for much and accept much less.
It is still based on the Plantation mentality you know. Chattel of all pigmentations need put in their place. The master's choice is the only choice they get.
November seems way too far away. This has already gone way too far in the elitist direction. Can you believe the King of England had to lecture congress on the Magna Carta. That document is the better part of a thousand years old. That's how behind on governing knowledge a lot of our representatives are. They lack even the basics of democracy. How did they even get a high school diploma? Social promotion is like social media. Nothing truly social about either one.
"After the insurrection, Cori Bush was the first member of Congress to suggest expelling members of Congress who supported Trump's coup attempt. AIPAC spent millions to throw her from Congress, and the leaders of the Democratic Party didn't stop them. She was absolutely correct. The coup continues."
https://bsky.app/profile/maxberger.bsky.social/post/3mkr64p7dak2s
I think this decision will be reversed eventually, like Dred Scott, possibly after a Civil War. But it will not stand. IMO, the high court must be 'packed' with judges who respect the Constitution. In this case, the concept of legitimizing gerrymandering may best be defeated by out-gerrymandering the opposition until THEY are demanding codified standards that prohibit the practice. But allow me to digress. I'm taking note of what Trump is NOT doing. I think it's significant. In the space of a week, he's gone from "a civilization will die tonight" to a passive blockade with NO threat of military action. In fact, Trump seems to be declaring that military action is over.
This is out of character for the mob-boss persona he's cultivated. IMP, he ainted himself into a corner by declaring he'd obliterated military targets and them threatening to demolish all bridges and power plants. That's a war crime. DJT might survive it without repercussions, but any senior officer in the military might be held accountable by a Democratic president or an international court. In other words, a general would be at risk of arrest in most of the world.
Theres not a bit of evidence, but I think Whisky Pete was told, "Ask us to commit war crimes and we will refuse. Fire us and we will talk to the press." A passive blockade is the limit now, the most the military will execute. Trump can withdraw at any time, and he can continue to try to force Iran to surrender. I don't think they will.
Trump seems to have undertaken the war to satisfy Bibi, Some have suggested that MBS also egged Trump into the fight. Trump has settled on the excuse that it's over the "obliterated' nuclear materials Trump is demanding Iran surrender to the US. As it's been described, the US will land in Iran at the site where we dropped a few bunker-busters six months ago. We want Iran to excavate the site under our eyes to make sure they don't spirit away a hundred pounds of weapons-grade stuff. It looks to me like that's the minimum Bibi will accept.
In the meantime, we're sliding into a global recession, and the GOP is at risk of becoming the minority party in DC, and taking huge losses in swing states that can gerrymander wickedly under Democrats for two years leading up to 2028. (Be careful what you wish for. You just got it in reverse.)
Florida and Texas may have engineered net losses IF Hispanic voters turn on the GOP. Hispanic voters are mostly Catholic, some conservative. But Pope Leo is making theopolitical moves in the US while staying above politics. Check the recent appointment of bishop in DC, Bishop Boxie, black, raised in LA, graduated Harvard Law, clerked for a federal judge…. tell me Leo's not willing to speak to justice with legal authority. Trump will badmouth the Pope for addressing illegal injustice and the GOP will pay in elections in states with a large Hispanic footprint. FL and TX. Aggressive gerrymandering reduces the size of your majority in some of the districts you carve up, potentially turning two 8-point advantages into three 5-point districts. Problem is, that's not going to be enough in a tidal-wave election.
Some words from AOC:
I do know that Trump’s days are numbered.
I live in a rural eastern WA county and the County Auditor told me that she checks the obituaries in the newspaper and adjusts the voter rolls accordingly. She also said that if you move from one place in Washington to another place in Washington, and you register to vote in the new ply, you’re automatically unregistered in the old one.
PS—Washington voters get ballots about two weeks before Election Day. If you fill out the ballot and sign the envelope and mail it back, but then you die before Election Day, that’s still a valid vote.