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Newspaper VOL.2 NO.40 VOL.2 NO.18 The CSRA’s
JUNE 27 - 30, 2013
It’s a new day High Court guts voting rights act: Locals respond
Augusta school desegregation
Judge lifts order A dancer entertains the crowd during the “Beats On Broad” outdoor dance party held at the Augusta Common on Friday night. The event was part of the Augusta Pride celebration. Photo by Vincent Hobbs
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Look Here! FRONT ‘N’ CENTER TAKE NOTE
July Fourth Events Fort Gordon Independence Day Celebration July 3 from 3 - 11 p.m. Fort Gordon. Bring your family for a day out at Fort Gordon to celebrate America’s Independence. There will be more than 40 food and craft vendors and a Carnival along with live music by The Swingin’ Medallions and the U.S. Army Signal Corps Band in the evening and a fireworks extravaganza at dark. Admission is free. For more information visit FortGordon. com. DR. LA'VEDA WALLACE PAGE PERFORMS AN ORIGINAL POEM during a spoken word performance at "Tapas - An Evening of Poetry, Prose and Performance Art" held at the Morris Museum of Art. Page engrossed the audience as she shared her struggles with sickle-cell anemia through her poetic words. The event, a Blue Bistro Theater production, featured several speken word artists and was was hosted by Kenneth "KB" Brown. Photo by Vincent Hobbs
OUT AND ABOUT
It’s Going Down on the Boulevard: Laney High School alumni have less than two weeks to take one last look at the historic inner city high school. On July 8, demolition will begin to make wa for a new high school that is scheduled to open in the fall of 2015. The Laney High School Alumni Association is inviting everyone to come out to the Laney Alumni Saturday on July 6, 2013. From 9:00 am to 1:00 pm we be commemorating this Augusta institution which has served the Augusta community for decades. Come out and walk the halls for one last time, reminisce with friends, take pictures, tailgate and enjoy the festivities. This event is sponsored by the Lucy C. Laney High School Alumni Association. For additional information, please contact a member of the Lucy C. Laney High School Alumni Association Board of Directors. Sincerely, Johnny C. Nimes, President
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Augusta Independence Day Celebration July 4 from 4 - 10 p.m. Bring the whole family to the Augusta Common and join in an array of activities to keep you entertained all afternoon. Live entertainment; vendors; inflatables for the kids and more will keep you busy until the largest fireworks show in Augusta! Vendors are welcomed, no coolers or pets please. Admission is free. For more information visit AugustaGa. gov.
First Friday
Two young women pose for a picture during the “Beats On Broad” outdoor dance party held at the Augusta Common on Friday night. The event was part of the Augusta Pride celebration. Photo by Vincent Hobbs
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Sales & Marketing Phone: 706-394-9411 Photography and Social Media Courtesy of Vincent Hobbs
July 5 from 5 - 9 p.m. Downtown Augusta. Enjoy live music and shop from local vendors along Broad Street and in the Augusta Common. Discover local restaurants, galleries, retail stores and nightlife. Many downtown businesses have First Friday specials.
email: Ben Hasan bzhasan54@yahoo.com Frederick Benjamin Sr. editor@urbanproweekly.com Vincent Hobbs coolveestudio@gmail.com
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The City Supreme Court voids key portion of Voting Rights Act as outdated IN THE NEWS
Obama ‘deeply disappointed’ by the 5-4 Supreme Court ruling on the landmark civil rights legislation. Justice Ginsburg, in dissent, decries ‘hubris’ in ‘demolition’ of the Voting Rights Act. Laughlin McDonald, ACLU voting rights attorney
ACLU voting rights lawyer disappointed in decision Veteran ACLU civil rights attorney Laughlin McDonald, speaking from his Atlanta office, told UrbanProWeekly on Tuesday that he was disappointed in the Supreme Court’s historic ruling that guts the 1965 Voting Rights Act. “At least the court agrees that voting discrimination still occurs,” McDonald said. “We’re going to work along with congress to develop a new preclearance formula. According to McDonald, any voting changes that happened since 2006 could be adversely affected. McDonald represented Augustans in the 2012 special redistricting.
River Watch Parkway citations to be reviewed Solicitor-General Kellie Kenner McIntyre released the following message this week: Recently, it has been reported that there were citations issued in an area on River Watch Parkway where posted speed signage was incorrect. In the interest of fairness to all parties involved, citations that were issued to citizens in the affected area will be identified to determine if they need additional review and consideration. It is important to note that this does not include all citations issued on River Watch Parkway, however, we anticipate that those that were issued because of the error will be dismissed.
WASHINGTON The US Supreme Court struck down a central portion of the Voting Rights Act Tuesday, ruling that Congress overstepped its authority when it reauthorized the landmark civil rights law in 2006 for an additional 25 years. The majority justices said lawmakers relied on outdated criteria tied to historic civil rights abuses in the 1960s and 1970s rather than conditions as they exist today in the US. In a 5-to-4 decision, the high court said Congress had failed to demonstrate that current conditions justify the extraordinary remedy under the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of forcing certain state and local governments to obtain pre-approval from Washington before implementing any changes to their
election procedures. The court said Congress must demonstrate that the law’s requirements are necessary to address problems that exist right now, not problems that existed 40 years ago. “Our country has changed, and while any racial discrimination in voting is too much, Congress must ensure that the legislation it passes to remedy that problem speaks to current conditions,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. In a dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the majority decision “can hardly be described as an exemplar of restrained and moderate decisionmaking.” “Quite the opposite,” Justice Ginsburg said. “Hubris is a fit word for today’s demolition of the VRA.”
In a statement from the White House, President Obama said he was “deeply disappointed” by the court’s action. “Today’s decision invalidating one of its [the VRA’s] core provisions upsets decades of well-established practices that help make sure voting is fair, especially in places where voting discrimination has been historically prevalent,” he said. Tom Perriello of the Center for American Progress said the court had ignored the reality of discrimination in the country. “The majority overruled a bipartisan commitment to liberty and provided indefensible cover to partisan efforts across the country to rig elections,” Mr. Perriello said in a statement. Others praised the opinion. “Today’s decision brings
the Voting Rights Act into the 21st Century,” said Carrie Severino, chief counsel of the Judicial Crisis Network. “It is absurd to use limited federal dollars scrutinizing minor changes to voting procedures in Alaska when we could be prosecuting actual instances of voter discrimination and intimidation,” she said. The Voting Rights Act has been called the most successful civil rights law in US history and the crown jewel of the civil rights movement. But jurisdictions long subject to its provisions complained that they were being unfairly singled out based on an outdated formula fashioned by Congress nearly a half-century ago when racial discrimination in voting was entrenched and pervasive in certain parts of the country.
Judge closes school desegregation lawsuit AUGUSTA Senior U.S. District Judge Dudley H. Bowen has ordered that the 49-year-old desegregation lawsuit be closed. The order follows a June 17 hearing where all parties involved in the 1964 desegregation lawsuit had an opportunity to show cause why the suit should not be closed. It has been 49 years since the filing of Robert L. Acree v. the Richmond County Board of Education. In his ruling, Judge Bowen indicated that the district has successfully correced past ills and had achieved desegregation in the student, teacher and staff popu-
lations, as well as in facilities, activities and transportation. During the June 17 hearing hearing, it became clear that all sides of the dispute felt that it was time for the school system to move ahead without being under the court order. According to Bowen, the demographics of the system have flipped since the filing of the lawsuit, with black students now making up 75 percent of the district and whites accounting for 21 percent. The ruling follows a major shift in the area’s electoral process after this week’s announcement that the Supreme Court ruled Section 4 of the 1965 Voting
Rights Act unconstitutional. Plaintiff’s attorney Ben Allen cited “a world of progress” that has been made in the ensuing years since the implementation of the lawsuit. Over the past couple of decades, other attempts to end the lawsuit have not The two sides have struggled to meet since 1964, when the first lawsuit was filed, and 1972, when the courts forced integration. Bowen’s recent hearing had been unprecedented in this case. For years, the system has be desegregated, but it had been up to the two parties in the dispute to make a move to lift the court order.
There have always been persistent legal obstacles. In the past, there has been a strong ``fear factor,’’ about ending the case prematurely. The Richmond County board of education must vote to let school board attorney Pete Fletcher ask the courts to end the order. The school system had always been very close to ending the lawsuit. The system is guided by a black superintendent and black and white administrators. Even before the judge’s proactive move, the trustees could have ordered Mr. Fletcher to petition the U.S. District Court to release Richmond County schools from court supervision.
Response from Lynn Bailey
Director Augusta-Richmond County Board of Elections As you might imagine, we are still processing the ruling and have not yet fully realized its impact in terms of exactly what this will mean for our office, other than it does appear that until Congress redefines the “covered jurisdictions” as provided for in Section 4 of the VRA, that the Section 5 requirement mandating that all “covered jurisdictions” have matters precleared by the DOJ
prior to the implementation of voting changes is moot. Augusta-Richmond County does not currently have any submissions pending at the Dept. of Justice, so we are in a position to study this important ruling and to establish a path forward for this office. As has always been the case, the Richmond County Board of Elections will continue its job of overseeing the electoral pro-
cess and protecting the rights of all voters by performing its duties in a fair and legal manner. The Board of Elections has 5 members – 2 appointed by the Democratic Party, 2 appointed by the Republican Party and a Chair appointed by the Commission from a list of three names submitted to them by the Legislative Delegation.
RICHMOND COUNTY VOTING will see few changes in the short term, but dramatic changes could be occurring as state legislators convene in January 2014. Above election workers in 2012. Photo by Vincent Hobbs
NAACP Response Augusta Area NAACP President Dr. Charles Smith provided the following response from the National office: •This decision insults the legacy of those like Medgar Evers who sacrificed their time and their lives to secure the right to vote. •The Constitution is incredibly clear that Congress has complete authority to ensure that no voter is denied the right to vote on account of race. •The Voting Rights Act is a vital tool to protect real voters from losing their rights to vote simply because of their race. •Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, provides special protection in places with an egregious history of discrimination. Removing this protection halts the march of progress made since the Voting Rights Act was enacted and opens the door to a flood of discriminatory attacks on voting rights. •We demand solutions to ensure the voting rights of all. Moving forward we will put pressure on Congress to revisit the Bipartisan spirit of 2006 and move aggressively to do everything within their power to protect voting rights, including: 1. Strengthening other sections of the voting rights act – such as Section 2 – adding discriminatory impact in addition to the intent that is already there. 2. Revising the formula in section 4.
Local impact of the Supreme Court Ruling on the Voting Right Act
Q&A with Harold Jones, Augusta attorney UPW: Today the Supreme Court made its landmark ruling about the Voting Rights Act. What are the broad ramifications of that ruling? JONES: Initially, one of the broad ramifications is that one of the most significant pieces of legislation in the last 40 years was curtailed today. But Congress can still act. What the Supreme effectively said is that the data being used to justify section 5 is outdated. They did not overturn section 5. They did not rule that section 5 was unconstitutional. So the ramifications are that Congress becomes very relevant again in the area of Civil Rights. Let’s don’t forget that Congress voted in 2006 to extend section 5 and the Voting Rights Act. So in that sense all is not lost. UPW: In the Georgia legislature, the GOP-led majority has had a very poor record in regard to safeguarding the voting rights of all of its citizens. What are some of the challenges that minority voters may face vis a vis an emboldened Republican party?
JONES: Well I would say it’s not just the GOP or minority voters. When you change district lines, election dates or change the type of election you have (from partisan to nonpartisan) you can have unintended consequences that affect all voters. UPW: Does this ruling have an impact on the newly drawn district lines for the city of Augusta and the Richmond County school disrict? JONES: Right now the lines will remain the same. Traditionally, district lines are redrawn with the Census. Because the changing of one line can affect so many others, it is difficult to see where there will be a change to the District lines. So I would expect those lines to remain intact. The problem becomes in 2020 when the lines are redrawn. Those new lines will not have to go through Section 5 preclearance and that could cause problems. UPW: There was an attempt last year to move the city elections from the fall to the summer months. However, it was never
precleared so it had no impact. Is that something that the legislature could easily redo?
goal should always be to maximize turnout no matter what the race is and section 5 did a good job in ensuring that.
JONES: Yes, the legislature could change the election cycles. If you recall the stated reason for changing the election date was a cost saving measure. But the change of election dates had to go through preclearance. The Justice Department examined it and determined that one of the unintended consequences was the dilution of voter turnout. The goal should be to maximize turnout but the Justice Department observed that moving the elections dates would most likely limit turnout. So although cost saving is a noble goal, vote dilution of all voters was an undesired consequence. We see the same thing with changing elections from partisan to non partisan. The Justice Department has prevented other states from changing their elections because non partisan elections typically have lower voter turnout. So Section 5 was not just a mechanism to increase minority turnout it was also used to increase all voter turnout. The
UPW: Do you think that there may be some unexpected consequences of this ruling? For instance, could it result in the election of more white Democrats, if black districts with large black majorities were modified? JONES: I don’t know if it will have that impact. That would be a presumption that African Americans vote strictly on race and I would disagree with that. For instance John Barrow received overwhelming African American support to for the Democratic nomination against an African American candidate. Having said that I think racial balance has worked well for Augusta. We have our problems as any city does but I think the racial balance we have achieved is unique and a good step towards continued growth. Section 5 played a hand in that. So we don’t want the loss of section 5 to impact the electoral possibilities for any race.
UrbanProWeekly • JUNE 27 - 30, 2013
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UrbanProWeekly • JUNE 27 - 30, 2013
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The City
The Saturday Market On The River Shop for local fruits and veggies, freshly baked breads and sweets, artisan roasted coffee and other goodies. You’ll also find locally crafted accessories, art, home décor and lots more! Admission is free. For more information visit TheAugustaMarket.com Andre Taylor of Taylor Farms arranges tomatoes at his booth at the “Augusta Market at the River” event. The weekly outdoor market on Eighth Street at the Riverwalk gives local farmers and other vendors a venue to sell their products. Photo by Vincent Hobbs
A line of customers form to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables from a vendor at the “Augusta Market at the River” event. The weekly outdoor market on Eighth Street at the Riverwalk gives local farmers and other vendors a venue to sell their products. Photo by Vincent Hobbs
Amanda Boyd spins a hula hoop around her shoulders at the “Augusta Market at the River” event. The weekly outdoor market on Eighth Street at the Riverwalk gives local farmers and other vendors a venue to sell their products. Photo by Vincent Hobbs
Sandy Lusco Huffman sings while playing a guitar at the “Augusta Market at the River” event. The weekly outdoor market on Eighth Street at the Riverwalk gives local farmers and other vendors a venue to sell their products. Photo by Vincent Hobbs
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ON THE STREET
AUGUSTA PRIDE CELEBRATION • JUNE 21, 22 “We have a long way to go, but if we continue on this path together, I am confident that one day soon, from coast to cost, all of our young people will look to the future with the same sense of promise and possibility. I am confident because I have seen the talent, passion, and commitment of LGBT advocates and their allies, and I know that when voices are joined in common purpose, they cannot be stopped.” — Barack Obama, President of the U.S.A.
A dancer entertains the crowd during the “Beats On Broad” outdoor dance party held at the Augusta Common on Friday night. (June 21) Photo by Vincent Hobbs
A MATTER OF PRIDE (Right) “Stop The War On Our Rack” organizer Valora Brunner (L) shares information with a young woman about breast cancer during the Augusta Pride Festival on Friday night.
A group poses for a picture in front of the Parliament Resort booth during the “Beats On Broad” outdoor dance party held at the Augusta Common on Friday night. The event was part of the Augusta Pride celebration. Photo by Vincent Hobbs
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Black officials, clergy rally for Tyrone Brooks By Sean Horgan Savannah Morning News SAVANNAH At the news conference Thursday in advance of this weekend’s Georgia Association of Black Elected officials’ summer convention, embattled State Rep. Tyrone Brooks of Atlanta went out of his way to say that he didn’t want his recent legal troubles to permeate the convention. “I didn’t want this to be about me,” Brooks, the president of GABEO and a longtime figure in the American civil rights movement, said Saturday just before GABEO’s awards luncheon honoring civil rights icon the Rev. C.T. Vivian and other civil rights veterans at Savannah State University. No chance of that. The luncheon, attended by about 50 black elected officials, clergy and civil rights advocates, turned into a veritable parade of solidarity and support for Brooks. The 67-year-old state legislator, who pleaded not guilty in late May to 30 counts of mail, wire and tax fraud brought by the U.S. Justice Department, maintains he is guilty of nothing more than some bad bookkeeping. The federal indictment charges that Brooks created a personal bank account to siphon off about $300,000 in donations to the GABEO that were to finance programs to fight child hunger, rehabilitate felons and organize voter registration drives. The first order of business at the luncheon was a motion by GABEO vice president Elaine Huckabee Lucas for a resolution of support for Brooks. “We stand here today united in our support for our president,” Lucas said of Brooks, who has headed the GABEO since 1993. “He is presumed innocent ... against these outlandish and untrue statements.” The resolution passed unani-
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GABEO president Tyrone Brooks, at left, a state representative from Atlanta, chats with state Rep. Al Williams of Midway on Saturday, June 22, 2013. Photo by Carl Elmore mously. But the assembled were just getting warmed up. Charles Steele, president emeritus of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, accepted the GABEO’s President’s Award on behalf of the absent Vivian and then launched
into a vigorous defense of his longtime friend. “I’ve known Tyrone for 30 years, and he’s always been there for the people,” Steele said. “Now there’s a mean spirit that’s blowing in the wind. We need to rally around Tyrone.” The Rev. Samuel Mostellar, president of the Georgia chapter of the SCLC, said two very different systems of justice remain in America — one for whites and one for blacks and other minorities. “Tyrone Brooks opened a lot of doors for us,” Mostellar said. “I was one of those who was able to walk through the doors opened by Dr. (Martin Luther) King and Tyrone Brooks. If Tyrone Brooks is taken out of the equation, the rest of us are going to be a sorry lot.”
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Commentary GOP v. Voting Rights Act This article was first published on January 10, 2013 right after Supreme Court announced that it would hear Shelby County v. Holder the next month. By William Yeomans The Republican Party is in danger of reaping what it has sown. Much has been written about the GOP’s problem with minority voters. Quite simply, the party has managed to alienate every nonwhite constituency in the nation. This is not an accidental or sudden phenomenon. Ever since Republicans chose almost 50 years ago to pursue a Southern strategy, to embrace and promote white voters’ opposition to civil rights, the party has been on a path toward self-segregation. Successive Republican administrations have pursued agendas that included retreating on civil rights enforcement and opposing government programs that increase minority opportunity. That steady progression culminated in Mitt Romney’s disastrous showing among African-American, Latino and Asian voters. Now, even as Republican leaders are openly lamenting that the party is doomed unless it can reverse its downward spiral with minority voters, the Supreme Court has announced that it would hear Shelby County v. Holder next month — the latest challenge to the constitutionality of section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Clear-eyed GOP strategists must have cringed with recognition that the five RepublicanappointedSupreme Court justices are threatening to put the final nail in the party’s coffin. Put bluntly, if the court’s Republican majority strikes down this recently reauthorized, core provision of the Voting Rights Act – the most effective and revered of all civil rights statutes — the backlash will likely ensure that Republican presidential candidates will struggle for a generation to win more than a handful of minority votes. The specter of justices appointed by the Republican Party joining in the effort to suppress minority votes will likely ignite a new movement among minorities and their allies to protect the franchise against GOP attack. Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act requires that juris-
dictions with a record of voting transgressions subjected the law must obtain pre-clearance for any change in election rules from either the Justice Department or a three-judge court in Washington, D.C. This requirement grew out of the inability of litigation to
general objections blocking discriminatory changes; more than 800 proposed voting changes that were withdrawn or modified after the Justice Department requested more information before it would approve them; 653 successful cases under Section 2 of the
however, is not to release the covered jurisdictions. It is to ensure adequate legal remedies against abuses in these others as well. Despite Congress’s recent reauthorization of Section 5, unanimous recognition of its success, and a voluminous
The specter of justices appointed by the Republican Party joining in the effort to suppress minority votes will likely ignite a new movement among minorities and their allies to protect the franchise against GOP attack. address many jurisdictions’ determined efforts to prevent African-Americans from voting. The Justice Department’s best attempts in suing to enforce the 15th Amendment, which prohibits denial of the vote based on race, proved inadequate. Because of local jurisdictions’ lack of cooperation and, in some instances, the recalcitrance of racist judges, individual cases proved timeconsuming and expensive to pursue. Frustratingly, even when plaintiffs won an order blocking one tactic for disenfranchisement, a jurisdiction could just adopt a new method — requiring a fresh round of litigation. Only after years of litigation had produced unsatisfactory results and the heroic efforts of civil rights activists and ordinary citizens had exposed massive injustice did Congress finally step forward.Pushed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965. Section 5 has proven so successful, its opponents now argue, that its own achievements should kill it. They contend that conditions in the jurisdictions subject to the law have changed — in part because of the act’s accomplishments — making the federal oversight imposed by Section 5 no longer warranted. Congress, however, made extensive findings to the contrary in 2006 and reauthorized Section 5 for 25 years by unanimous vote in the Senate and an overwhelming majority in the House of Representatives. Indeed, as Judge David S. Tatel’s opinion for the D.C. Circuit Court in Shelby County amply demonstrates, Congress acted well within its power in reauthorizing Section 5. The ruling noted that Congress, examining the record only since 1982, acted on the basis of 626 attorney
act, which allows lawsuits to redress discrimination; tens of thousands of election observers being sent to covered jurisdictions; 105 successful Section 5 enforcement actions; 25 unsuccessful suits seeking approval of voting changes, and the invisible deterrent effect, which can restrain jurisdictions that know their election practices must survive Section 5 review. Faced with this overwhelming evidence that Section 5 is still justified in the jurisdictions still subject to it, opponents are making a second argument. Some jurisdictions, they point out, that are not covered by Section 5 behave just as badly — revealing the imprecision of the section’s coverage formula. The formula captures jurisdictions that administered a discriminatory device (such as a literacy test) and where registration or turnout in the presidential elections of 1964, 1968, or 1972 fell below 50 percent. There was never any magic to the formula, which was reverse-engineered to capture the worst offenders. The formula was always under-inclusive. It fails, for example, to include such states as Arkansas, Tennessee and Oklahoma, where racial discrimination was no stranger. It was also over-inclusive, capturing jurisdictions where voting discrimination was not as severe. That is why Congress built into the act a bailout provision, which allows jurisdictions that have maintained clean records for 10 years to go to court to end federal oversight. Dozens of jurisdictions have done just that. It is true that several states not covered by Section 5 have been hotbeds of voting law controversy in recent cycles – notably Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida (only five counties are covered). The correct response to this misbehavior,
record compiled by Congress in support of its continued necessity, the Republican appointees to the court appear eager to throw it out. In 2009, these justices put it in their sights – by accepting the case NAMUDNO v. Holder — but then failed to pull the trigger. They instead decided the matter through creative statutory interpretation. Chief Justice John Roberts’ opinion, however, gratuitously expressed serious concern about Section 5’s constitutionality and made it clear that the court would not likely hold its fire a second time. Shelby County presents that second time. The Republican Party planted the seeds of this judicial disaster decades ago. Building on the resentment of white Southerners toward Brown v. Board of Education and the demise of Jim Crow, Richard M. Nixon implemented his Southern strategy to appeal to angry white voters. He then fed this beast by appointing conservative judges who would reverse civil rights progress. President Ronald Reagan identified conservative ideologues for the bench who could be counted on to reject effective civil rights enforcement. He elevated Associate Justice William Rehnquist to chief justice and then tried to push through confirmation of the ultra-conservative Robert Bork, who had opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This proved too much for the Senate. Reagan also appointed Justices Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy. Both have voted consistently against minority civil rights plaintiffs, while showing enthusiastic support for whites challenging civil rights remedies. President George H.W. Bush continued this pattern when he appointed Clarence Thomas, age 41, to the court. Thomas was not
chosen on the basis of his experience or distinction as a legal thinker, but because of his race and conservative ideology — which featured strong opposition to civil rights remedies. President George W. Bush’s appointments of Roberts and Samuel Alito, who cut their teeth as attorneys in Reagan’s Justice Department, completed this decades-long Republican effort to create a solid rightwing majority on the Supreme Court that would consistently oppose minorities’ civil rights claims. With that project now complete, the Republican appointees are poised to take on the Voting Rights Act. While forces hostile to the act spent the years since the 2006 reauthorization trying to convince the public that Section 5 is no longer necessary, the two years leading to the 2012 election undermined their work. Following strong GOP gains in the 2010 election, Republican-led statehouses across the nation launched efforts to suppress minority voting by restricting early voting, blocking voting on Sunday, imposing draconian registration requirements, purging voting lists and passing photo ID requirements. Early post-election accounts suggest that these noxious tactics backfired and actually increased minority enthusiasm and turnout in the affected jurisdictions. These suppression efforts should make it far harder for opponents of Section 5 to argue that it is no longer necessary. Fortunately, Section 5 blocked photo identification laws enacted by South Carolina and Texas and limited the restrictions on early voting adopted by Florida. A three-judge court relied on Section 5 to block Texas’ most recent redistricting plans for its congressional, senate and state house seats — finding that the legislature acted with the intent to discriminate on the basis of race. Section 5 should also prevent Alabama and Mississippi from implementing recently authorized photo identification laws. The tw0 years since the 2010 midterm election present overwhelming evidence that covered jurisdictions are not yet ready to conduct elections without federal supervision. Days after Romney was humContinued on next page
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson after years of civil rights activism by Martin Luther King Jr. and others. Congress intended the Act to outlaw the practice of requiring otherwise qualified voters to pass literacy tests in order to register to vote, a principal means by which Southern states had prevented African Americans from exercising the franchise.
How to update the Voting Rights Act By Spencer Overton Five Supreme Court Justices just rolled back the most effective civil rights provision in our nation’s history. What should we do now? One option is to declare “mission accomplished” and forget about race in politics. That, however, will not work. Although we have made amazing progress in the past fifty years, too many state and local politicians still maintain power by manipulating election rules. Nueces County, Texas, provides one example. After the rapidly growing Latino community surpassed 56 percent of its population, the county gerrymandered local election districts to diminish the influence of Latino voters. The Voting Rights Act blocked Nueces County’s gerrymandering in 2012, but now that the Court has rolled back the Act, state and local politicians will have more opportunities to manipulate voting rules. Voting rights protections are still needed, and it is feasible to design up-to-date and adequate protections. While today’s Supreme Court decision is a setback, Congress has the power to do the right thing and update the Voting Rights Act. Republicans and Democrats should agree to modernize the Voting Rights Act based on two principles: (1) updating the Act’s preclearance and litigation provisions; and (2) requiring disclosure. Update Preclearance & Litigation The preclearance process of the Voting Rights Act applied to all or part of 15 states, and required those areas
to submit proposed changes in voting rules to federal officials for approval. The Supreme Court held that the coverage formula requiring preclearance by some states but not others was outdated because it was based on election data from the 1964, 1968, and 1972 elections. Congress should update the coverage formula to require that states and localities with recent voting rights violations preclear new election law changes. In addition, states and localities that violate voting rights in the future should be required to preclear their election law changes. Congress should also update the voting rights litigation process. The law needs to stop unfair election rules before they are used and harm voters. For example, the updated Act should bolster the process for obtaining a court order to stop unfair rules from being used in an election. States and localities generally have more information about their proposed election law changes, and the updated Act should shift more responsibility to states and localities to show that a change is fair. Further, litigation standards designed for redistricting cases should be updated to more effectively address other problems -- such as hurdles to casting a ballot. Require Disclosure Congress should also update the Voting Rights Act to require that states and localities with significant minority populations disclose election law changes via an online portal that is open to review by the public. States and localities should disclose the reasons for the changes, their anticipated effect on minority voters, and demo-
graphic data about the area. Like the preclearance requirement, the disclosure rules should be comprehensive. The effects of all new election rules would be public, and this transparency would deter many unfair rules. Disclosure would increase states’ compliance with the Act and thereby reduce the amount and cost of litigation. Increased transparency would help federal officials and voting rights groups detect trends, devise nonlitigation solutions where appropriate, and concentrate finite litigation resources on the most significant problems. While disclosure does not solve all problems, it can add value, as it does with securities trading, mergers that may trigger antitrust concerns, environmental impact statements, and campaign finance disclosure. An updated Voting Rights Act will help not just voters of color, but our
nation as a whole. Removing voting barriers and deterring politicians from manipulating election rules improves democracy for all Americans. Protecting voting rights also provides legitimacy to our nation’s efforts to promote democracy and prevent corruption around the world. This is a critical moment. Public attention on the Supreme Court’s decision presents an opportunity to update the Voting Rights Act in Congress. But eventually public interest will fade, and the chance to update the Act will be lost. Congress must start the process now. Spencer Overton is a Professor of Law at The George Washington University Law School and a Senior Fellow at Demos. He is the author of the book Stealing Democracy: The New Politics of Voter Suppression. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerOverton.
GOP V. THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT from page 12 bled by a historic lack of minority support, the Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices plunged ahead — agreeing to review Section 5 and threatening to make it significantly more difficult for the Republican Party to improve its standing with minority voters. Just as Romney’s defeat reflected decades of Republican policy hostile to the interests of minorities, the court’s recent decision to hear Shelby County reflects decades of effort to pack the court with right-wing ideologues who will oppose minority interests. The Republicans’ best hope to avoid further alienating minority voters lies
in Kennedy, the Republican-appointed justice most likely to break with his conservative colleagues. All eyes will be on him as he decides whether his legacy will include being the justice whose vote brought down America’s most effective civil rights law. His vote may well determine the prospects of the Republican Party for years to come – and the health of our democracy. William Yeomans served as Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s chief counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee and as a Justice Department official. He is a fellow in law and government at American University College of Law.
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