Topic: Voting Rights Act

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Should Congress restore key part of Voting Rights Act? House hears both sides.

A House subcommittee hosted an exchange of views Thursday about the meaning of and potential fallout from the US Supreme Court’s decision last month that struck down a portion of the Voting Rights Act.
In Senate, emotional appeal to restore 'heart and soul' of Voting Rights Act

Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, a leader of the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to restore a key section of the Voting Rights Act struck down by the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court, in Voting Rights Act follow-up, wipes out key Texas rulings

The Supreme Court voided two rulings affected by a now invalidated section of the Voting Rights Act. One blocked a Texas voter ID law, the other required more generous minority election districts in the state.
Opinion After Supreme Court, Congress must move on Voting Rights Act

The Voting Rights Act has been America’s most effective tool to eradicate racial discrimination in voting. Today, a sharply divided Supreme Court has thrown the future of this critical tool in limbo by striking down a key provision. It’s now up to Congress to revive the act.
Opinion Supreme Court rightly cites 'old data' in Voting Rights Act

The Supreme Court has rightly decided that the Voting Rights Act's 'extraordinary measures' to prevent voting discrimination must be directed toward places where discrimination is going on now, not where it happened nearly 50 years ago.
The Monitor's View Supreme Court ruling hardly ends the issue in Voting Rights Act

In the Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act, the nine justices were at odds over an issue that still divides America: How to deal with old fears of any new types of racism.
Supreme Court voids key portion of Voting Rights Act as outdated

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.
Will the Scottsboro Boys get a posthumous pardon?

The Alabama legislature voted unanimously to grant posthumous pardons for the 'Scottsboro Boys,' nine black teens wrongly convicted of raping two white women in 1931. The pardons now await the governor's approval.
Is Massachusetts more racist than Mississippi, as Chief Justice Roberts hints?

In deciding whether to strike down a portion of the Voting Rights Act, the Supreme Court is focusing on whether the South has redeemed its racist history. Massachusetts, though, has a quibble with Chief Justice Roberts.
Rosa Parks honored with statue (+video)

Politicians unveiled a new statue of Rosa Parks in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. Parks, the woman whose refusal to give up her bus seat spurred a year-long bus boycott in 1955, is the first black woman to be honored with a full-sized statue in Statuary Hall.
Voting Rights Act case: Supreme Court questioning is lively, pointed (+video)

At the US Supreme Court on Wednesday, defenders of the 1965 Voting Rights Act argued that the judiciary should defer to Congress's judgment that the law is still needed as is. Several justices indicated that they thought not.
Opinion To protect democracy, Supreme Court must fully uphold Voting Rights Act

Today, the Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act in the case Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder. After a year of politicians manipulating voting laws, the Court must uphold this protection and safeguard every American’s fundamental right to vote.
Voting Rights Act: Is major portion outdated? Supreme Court to hear arguments.

Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act requires some state and local governments to obtain federal clearance for changes in voting procedures. In 2008 the Supreme Court said the section needed updating.
Robert Reich Immigration, corporations, and the real debate over US citizenship

Immigration is just one part of the conversation over US citizenship, Reich writes. The immigration debate is also a question of who we want to join us.
How well do you know MLK? Take the quiz!

In the 50s and 60s Martin Luther King Jr., a black Southern reverend who advocated non violent, peaceful resistance, became the voice of the civil rights movement. Test your knowledge of one of America's greatest men in this quiz.
Lawrence Guyot, civil rights leader, dies after decades of activism

Lawrence Guyot, a 73-year-old civil rights activist who survived beatings and went to prison in Mississippi in the 60s, died late Thursday night. Guyot was a long-time advocate of voter rights.
Immigration reform: Can the GOP really win Hispanic votes with a flip-flop?

Republicans are beginning to craft legislation around an idea that seemed laughable before last week’s election: immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship. Critics say the gambit may not work.
Voting Rights Act: Why many Southern states are glad of Supreme Court case

After minorities played a big role in reelecting President Obama, the US Supreme Court says it will take up the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the issue of federal oversight over voting in mostly Southern jurisdictions.
Supreme Court to rule on scope of federal powers in Voting Rights Act case

A landmark civil-rights-era law will come before the US Supreme Court later this year, when the justices will consider if Congress was out of bounds in renewing a part of the Voting Rights Act.
Whose votes count, whose don't? The legal landscape before Election Day

Here's how judges have ruled in four major election-law flash points: voter ID laws, early voting, provisional ballots, and the purging of voter registration rolls.
As US Supreme Court opens, all eyes on Chief Justice John Roberts

The US Supreme Court opens its 2012-13 term Monday with Justice Anthony Kennedy again the likely swing vote. But given his vote on the Affordable Care Act, Chief Justice John Roberts may not be predictably conservative either.
South Carolina voter ID law goes before panel of judges

Amidst arguments that voter ID laws are unfair toward minorities, a panel of judges will determine whether South Carolina's voter ID law should go into effect before the election, or in 2014.
Judge tosses Wisconsin union reform: Why judges are dismantling the GOP agenda

A judge has ruled against Wisconsin’s controversial collective bargaining law. Across the country, state and federal judges are weighing whether the 2010 Republican surge led to legislative overreach.
Early voting: Why Justice dropped its challenge of Florida plan

Florida's plan to bar voting the Sunday before Election Day, when some churches mount a 'souls to polls' initiative, was approved, provided 5 counties allow early voting for 96 hours over 8 days.
Federal court rules against Texas voter photo ID law

Greg Abbott, Texas's attorney general, said he will appeal the ruling to the US Supreme Court, confident of prevailing there.