2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumThe Roberts’ Court's Shelby County Power Play Could Backfire
There is an interesting exchange from Joe Klein's "The Natural," a mini-memoir of the Clinton era, in which a Republican Senator confesses to President Clinton that Republicans "don't believe in Government very much, but we love power." That is a good starting point for understanding the judicial activism of the Roberts Court and its decision in Shelby County v. Holder invalidating portions of the Voting Rights Act.
Four years earlier, Chief Justice Roberts engineered the Court's Citizens United decision, pushing it from a narrow decision that was consistent with prior election law jurisprudence to instead, in the words of former Senator Russ Feingold, "roll back laws that have limited the role of corporate money in federal elections since Teddy Roosevelt was president."
Congress passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965 in reaction to "Bloody Sunday" when voting rights marchers were blocked and clubbed by the state police on Selma, Alabama's Edmund Pettus Bridge. The Act requires jurisdictions having a history of voting discrimination to submit election law changes for preclearance review by the Justice Department pursuant to authority granted Congress under the 15th amendment (providing that the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged . . . on account of race" .
Congress reauthorized the Act in 1982 and again in 2006, following 21 hearings and a legislative record that exceeded 15,000 pages. Among the findings was that between the 1982 reauthorization and 2006, the number of Justice Department pre-clearance objections jumped 180 percent, with the nature of the restrictions being more subtle but still driven by the intent to restrict minority voting power. The 2006 reauthorization was approved by the House 390-33 and Senate 98-0, with Shelby County, Alabama's two senators and congressman each voting in favor.
In 2010, Shelby County filed a constitutional challenge to the Voting Rights Act, claiming that the preclearance procedure was unconstitutional, an argument rejected by the District Court and Court of Appeals. Three days after President Obama won reelection in large part due to a huge turnout among African Americans, the Roberts' Court decided to hear this case.
In writing for the majority, Roberts seemed to forget his own admonition from only a year ago that courts "must presume an Act of Congress is constitutional unless the lack of constitutional authority ... is clearly demonstrated" and that a "heavy burden rests on those who would attack the judgment of the representatives of the people."
Roberts offered no such deference, glossing over (i) Congressional findings from the 2006 reauthorization; (ii) the fact that a number of Republican controlled states, including eight of eleven states in the former Confederacy, passed new voting restrictions since the 2010 election having the effect of reducing minority vote; (iii) the outcry over Florida Governor Scott's substantially curtailing voting hours and machines in 2012, creating lines lasting several hours in minority districts; or (iv) the Republican Party's willingness to consider further voting restrictions following President Obama's reelection.
With respect to Alabama in particular, Roberts ignored a 2010 FBI sting in which members of the Alabama legislature were caught on tape referring to African-Americans as "aboriginals" and announcing their intention to suppress their vote.
Instead, Roberts supplanted Congressional findings with his own view that increased black voter registration and turnout were a sign that the law was working so as to not require pre-clearance, when the success he cited no doubt was achieved as a result of the presence and exercise of pre-clearance procedures.
In doing so, Roberts gave Republicans reeling from a shrinking base a lifeline. The lifeline, however, may turn out to be a noose, since if Republicans block an attempt to amend the Voting Rights Act it could cement perceptions that the party (and even the Roberts court) is too extreme.
Secondly, minority voters understand what is really going on here. I was part of the Obama legal protection effort in Florida during the last election and recall going to a polling station in Miramar to encourage voters to remain in line for almost four hours, only to find little coaxing was needed. They knew why they were in line and like their forefathers in Selma, who responded to Bloody Sunday by returning to the same bridge days later, they were not "going to let anybody turn them around."
Roberts' Shelby County power play may only make them more determined to fight for their right to vote. It is a tragedy, however, that as we approach the 50th anniversary of Selma, the Chief Justice is comfortable with an American where they still have to.
GeorgeGist
(25,321 posts)laws against slavery should be eliminated.
mountain grammy
(26,622 posts)so it's more important than ever for this corrupt justice and his cohorts to go back to the "good old days."
MurrayDelph
(5,299 posts)voting rights were overturned by a 4.6 to 4 vote.
Vinnie From Indy
(10,820 posts)K&R
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)Very sad that he was allowed to join SCOTUS.
Good post, thanks. I suspect that the Democrats will do what they can to keep the Republican Party alive, because they need something even further to their right to look even worse by comparison. But keeping the Republicans from self-immolation becomes more difficult each day.
mountain grammy
(26,622 posts)Obama was one of them. Democrats were called obstructionists and worse.
I don't think Democrats will do what they can to keep the Republican Party alive so they look better by comparison.
Fuddnik
(8,846 posts)He should have been disqualified on the spot. But, we just didn't have the votes to stop him.
Oh, wait......
Republicans all lie and all excuse each other for lying. Honesty and integrity are not Republican Family Values
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)Both of these criminals should have been impeached while Pelosi was speaker. But Manny's point above about how the Dems keep the Repukes alive to cover their own rightward march is spot on.
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)for the Republican Party.
After the damage they had taken in the last election, the Republican Party was on the verge of extinction, and their Teabag intransigence was pushing them ever-closer to their inevitable end.
Fortunately, Obama recognized this clear and present danger and has managed to avert it. By throwing them the lifeline of proposals to cut Social Security and Medicare, he has bravely taken on the role of villain on the national stage, and is busy luring the posse away from the unfortunate Republicans whom they were about to lynch.
God Bless President Obama! He has saved the 1% from distressing inconvenience while taking the positive steps necessary to ensure that the excess elderly population reduces itself humanely through dietary deficiencies and withholding of medical care.
What genius, what profoundly complex n-dimensional chess the man plays!
Come, let us celebrate with catfood potluck feasts to be held under the bridges across America.
(Thanks for the opportunity to reprise this little piece)
In case you're wondering what brand of catfood to bring, we are honoring the Chained CPI (Catfood Price Index) and therefore recommend Walmart Great Value (TM).
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)and has been discussed at length as to why. But, by all means, please keep the narrative going ... it is certain to have the intended result; whatever that might be.
loudsue
(14,087 posts)ewagner
(18,964 posts)Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)Seriously.
Dustlawyer
(10,495 posts)it will set back respect for the judiciary for 100 years! They saw the dramatic increase in voter rights abuses and I don't know how they could rule on this with a straight face!
xtraxritical
(3,576 posts)has no respect for the "judiciary". That's why prisons are over flowing and corporations are people.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)The party of racism and people that will believe any stupid meme you throw at them, like, "We have to fight them over there so we don't have to fight them here."
DhhD
(4,695 posts)voting in America is once again a decision by the State and not explained by Act supporting the real meaning of the Constitution, therefore people at the voting places can be perceived to be there illegally. To me that would mean that your papers, can be legally searched outside of the voting box and you can be turned away or jailed on suspicion of violating a State Law. A State Militia is under the 2nd Amendment can be called to police the voting area.
The Texas Legislative upper floor gallery had a small comparison expression of the 1st Amendment, Tuesday, June 25, 2013. Looks like several Amendments, public law and State law are going to be played against one another during the coming election. Looks like Congress will do nothing about the Roberts Resolution until after the 2014 elections. If Congress does not act to return voter rights, then they need to be voted out of office in my opinion. This should be a big 2014 Campaign Issue.
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/senator-wendy-davis-filibuster
Edited to correct spell checker word replacement.
kitt6
(516 posts)has to be flawed. Maybe the UN could review. They seem to have teeth lately.
blackspade
(10,056 posts)vlyons
(10,252 posts)Leader Pelosi is considering bringing a bill, The John Lewis Voting Rights Act. If the GOP disallows or votes it down, they will drive minorities to turn out in record numbers.
orpupilofnature57
(15,472 posts)ewagner
(18,964 posts)Thanks...I'll use the ideas and quote you (with attribution) often!
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)it never does. This is just wishful thinking, BK.
Edit: Rec anyway, it's well-written
calimary
(81,298 posts)Glad you're here! Your last sentence was the most powerful:
"It is a tragedy, however, that as we approach the 50th anniversary of Selma, the Chief Justice is comfortable with an American where they still have to."
AMAZING - we STILL have these big messes to clean up. Citizens United, and now this too. I keep praying that scalia or thomas will finally get tired of it and want to retire, but I don't hold out much hope. These bastards will hang on for dear life as long as there's a Democrat in the White House - in both their cases I think - JUST FOR SPITE.
Another reason why, and I'm sorry to say this, we ALL - ALL OF US on our side of the aisle - have to be one-party voters for awhile. It is URGENT that we keep the White House in Democratic hands, and it is EQUALLY CRITICAL that we start putting more governors' mansions and state legislatures in Democratic hands, and send more Dems to the House of Reps and Senate. We're just gonna have to outlast the bad guys - til we can turn the Supreme Court around.
SaveAmerica
(5,342 posts)cycles will we need to get those idiots out of there?
ellenfl
(8,660 posts)calimary
(81,298 posts)THE STATES AREA VITAL!!!!
You know all the shit we have to fight, anew - all the stuff that has so many of us scratching our heads and saying "but WHY are we STILL FIGHTING THIS????" Or "this is the 21st Century forcryingoutloud! I thought this was settled!"
Well all the shit going on around the country that's making us say this - IS GOING ON IN THE STATES!!! It starts at the STATE level and metastasizes from there. WHENEVER republi-CONS gain a foothold, they start in with this shit. They campaign with the old "jobs, jobs, jobs" mantra, and then when they get in with sufficient numbers, they start jamming their narrow-minded policies down everyone's throats and, sometimes quite literally, up every woman's vagina in the frickin' state!!!!
This cancer starts in the states and spreads upward.
We HAVE to stand our ground, and take a substantial amount of it back, too!
OldRedneck
(1,397 posts)calimary
(81,298 posts)Glad you're here! LOVE this! Thanks for posting!
elleng
(130,956 posts)SaveAmerica
(5,342 posts)in NC with a few friends who have been active in politics and the Civil Rights Movement is that they are prepared to inform as many people as possible about any changes in voting (ID requirements, etc). To me it's a shame that this has to be done (the constant fighting just to exercise your right to vote) and this many years later we still have to have this conversation.
To me the injustice is that, even if they are more 'fired up and ready to go' because of these actions, there will still be folks out there who won't be informed about any changes and will miss their chance to vote. One person who is made unable to mark a ballot is one to many to me. I wish these fools (Rs, especially the R Justices) would just shrivel up and leave politics. They go against everything the Constitution is about.
Rstrstx
(1,399 posts)Because we wouldn't have Obamacare without him, plain and simple. And 2013's hero, Kennedy, was last year's villain. And even though I would wish they would have kept preclearance in place, I have to admit he DOES have a point, voter suppression right now seems to be most rampant in states that have no need to preclear anything (can you say O-H-I-O?). It is kind of wacky that some states can pass pretty strict voter ID laws that other states can't (or couldn't); either they're legal or they aren't.
DhhD
(4,695 posts)no to voter rights. In Texas, voters rights is now a State issue set up by Roberts. Roberts' Medicaid Resolution is now a State issue except for those of low income on Medicare already. Texas ACA implementation is now a State Issue.
Rstrstx
(1,399 posts)but he and he alone saved Obamacare from total defeat - our new "hero" Kennedy certainly wasn't going to do it - and if he had voted the way he probably wanted to vote the opportunity would have been lost for another generation. Forget Texas, it would have been gone for the whole country. For me affordable health insurance was the single most important issue in Obama's first term, and the party paid dearly for it in 2010 (and may again in 2014 if its implementation is poorly managed), but it was the right thing to do and I'm extremely grateful for everyone that kept it alive against improbable odds, even you-know-who. Poorer Texans will either eventually get affordable health care through Medicaid or federal exchanges, that issue will resolve itself despite dufus' grandstanding. Certainly better than having to wait another 20 years for the chance to come up again.
calimary
(81,298 posts)Good to have you with us! True, he did vote more or less the correct way on the Affordable Care Act.
But the dumb jerkoff botched the soundbite while swearing in the FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT THIS NATION HAS EVER ELECTED. An historic day if ever there was one, and an historic moment. As Chief Justice, roberts KNEW what his job description was, and what he was charged with doing AS Chief Justice. It should have come to no surprise to him on the night Barack Obama won the Presidency in 2008 - that he himself was going to swear in the first Black President of the United States, his photo doing such would be in every history book and textbook and publication looking back on the presidency of the First black politician to win that office. It wasn't like it was popped on him at the last minute. It wasn't as though he had no advance notice. Inauguration Day is JANUARY 20th. That's a LOT of time to practice following a decisive call on Election Night on the first Tuesday in November of the immediately previous year. He had about two-and-a-half full months to practice. He could have cheat-sheeted that day. Written it on the palm of his hand like sarah palin's done. Brought it on cue cards or 3x5 cards - or SOMETHING!
You start noticing: EVERY clip of the actual moment of swearing-in during the First Inauguration of Barack Obama goes no farther than "I, Barack Hussein Obama do solemnly swear..." and then it dumps out. Because it CAN'T go further. Ol' john roberts botched it from that point. Ruined the soundbite of the century for all eternity. As a retired newsperson I just have a DEVIL of a time trying to get over that one. And every time I see that truncated clip of the first Obama Oath of Office, I get angry all over again! THAT tells me all I need to know about john roberts. Fuckin' careless slipshod thoughtless short-sighted corporate-leaning crap seems to be his main specialty. I'm actually surprised that his court produced the rulings it did - on DOMA and of course the ACA. I frankly fear what would happen if this court starts looking again at the challenges to Roe V Wade - but with the eyes and mentality of the Troglodytes on the bench - men who think THEY have the last word.
Bennet Kelley
(142 posts)Thanks for all the great responses and recs. I am committing myself to return to Selma in 2015 if we don't correct this.
Azathoth
(4,609 posts)A power play would have struck down Section 5, which is what the right has been openly calling for (and what Thomas lost his shit over in his dissent.) As you stated so well, all Roberts did was throw the GOP a short-term lifeline that relies on the current paralysis in the House. The instant the House swings Democratic, Shelby v. Holder becomes a moot point, and in the meantime, Democrats have a great stick to beat Boehner with as well as to motivate their base. Roberts had to know that.