Marc Elias: How the Courts Failed Us

[Nevilledog]

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Marc E. Elias
@marceelias
In Shelby County v. Holder, the Supreme Court struck down the coverage formula underpinning Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act because, in the words of the Chief Justice: “Nearly 50 years later, things have changed dramatically.”

Turns out, he was wrong.

How the Courts Failed Us
Read the latest by Marc Elias here.
democracydocket.com
8:58 AM · May 7, 2021

https://www.democracydocket.com/2021/05/how-the-courts-failed-us/

In Shelby County v. Holder, the Supreme Court struck down the coverage formula underpinning Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 because, in the words of the Chief Justice: “Nearly 50 years later, things have changed dramatically.” Turns out, he was wrong.

Since that decision in 2013, we have seen state after state that had previously been subject to Section 5’s “preclearance” requirement for any changes to their voting laws enact suppressive voting legislation aimed at making it harder for minority voters to vote. In fact, just days after the ruling in Shelby County, North Carolina passed a massive voter suppression law that the Fourth Circuit ultimately held targeted Black voters with “surgical precision.” Similarly, Arizona re-passed a restriction on third-party ballot collection that it had previously abandoned due to strong indications that the Department of Justice was going to reject preclearance.

Yet, if Shelby County gave the greenlight to state-sponsored voter suppression, another much lower profile case removed the brakes on the GOP voter suppression war machine that eventually became the Big Lie. Along with Shelby County, it is among the most consequential and destructive voting rights decisions of the last decade.

To understand the importance of that case—captioned Democratic National Committee v. Republican National Committee—you have to understand the history of Republican Party voter suppression.

In 1981, shortly after Ronald Reagan took office, the RNC decided to embark on a major voter suppression program. Under the name the National Ballot Security Task Force, the RNC engaged in a variety of unsavory and illegal voter suppression tactics. These included “voter-caging” (which involves targeting minority voters with mailings and then seeking the removal of those whose mail is returned as undeliverable from the voter rolls), as well as full-on voter intimidation at the polls. To achieve the latter, the RNC set up signs near minority precincts in New Jersey that warned voters of the risks of committing voter fraud and stationed off-duty sheriffs and police officers at polling places wearing black armbands with “National Ballot Security Task Force” printed on them.

*snip*

[FBaggins]

1. The court has moved well to the right since then

Kennedy was the swing vote in that case. It's likely that the current court not only objects to Section 4 and the coverage formula for Section 5... but Section 5 itself (as with Thomas' concurrence at the time).

[moondust]

2. Roberts had a convenient excuse.

"See, everybody? The Black President was re-elected! Everyone can see that racism is clearly a thing of the past! Therefore the old racist voter suppression tricks won't work anymore so the protections are no longer needed!"

[world wide wally]

3. I knew that as soon as I heard about the decision.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. The Shelby County SCOTUS decision was horrible

It was a poorly written opinion that was based on the assertion that the south no longer discriminated against non-white voters. Texas and other states proved the premise of this opinion wrong in hours after it was released. Judge Roberts is a disgrace for pushing this judicial approval of voter suppression and racism