Here’s the concluding section of Chief Justice Roberts’ majority opinion in the Voting Rights Act case:
Our decision in no way affects the permanent, nationwide ban on racial discrimination in voting found in §2. We issue no holding on §5 itself, only on the coverage formula. Congress may draft another formula based on current conditions. Such a formula is an initial prerequisite to a determination that exceptional conditions still exist justifying such an “extraordinary departure from the traditional course of relations between the States and the Federal Government.” … 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.
Sahil Kapur has more.
Much of the focus in advance of the Supreme Court’s decision on the Voting Rights Act was on Section 5, which requires preclearance from the Justice Department or federal courts before a jurisdiction subject to the Voting Rights Act — those with histories of racial discrimination — can change their voting laws.
But the court did not rule on Section 5. Instead it struck down Section 4, which establishes which jurisdictions are subject to the extra scrutiny involved in preclearance. Think: old Confederacy states. So arguably the court went further in invalidating the law. More soon.
For all the other issues raised by the last two weeks of drama, I think we can say with little doubt that Snowden has put OJ epically to shame in teasing out the full dramatic potential of the slow speed chase genre. But what is he doing exactly? The Chinese clearly wanted to wash their hands of this as quickly as they could. We’re cashing out, they seemed to be saying, we don’t want anything to do with this mess of yours. But the Russians looked at it and said, Hey, play me in. We’d love to play this hand. Read More
Russia’s foreign minister: “We consider the attempts to accuse Russia of violation of U.S. laws and even some sort of conspiracy, which on top of all that are accompanied by threats, as absolutely ungrounded and unacceptable.”
IRS Chief: inappropriate screening included search terms ‘Progressive,’ ‘Occupy,’ ‘Israel’.
The AP piece I linked to presents this as somehow, Hey, it’s even worse than we thought, they were targeting everyone!
“Werfel’s comments suggest the IRS may have been targeting groups other than tea party and other conservative organizations for tough examinations to see if they qualify.”
But if they were targeting obviously political groups across the political spectrum, the story seems rather different than what we’ve been led to believe.
Andrew Ross Sorkin: “I’d Almost Arrest Glenn Greenwald.” Watch.
I certainly don’t think it’s totally generational. But I think there’s an element of it that is. TPM Reader MB shares his thoughts …
What I find most compelling about the Snowdon affair is what it says about changing generational attitudes toward foreign policy–in particular, I feel that it’s the first major salvo in Generation Y’s war on realist foreign policy.
Sen. Nelson (D-FL) says Russian President Vladimir Putin is the one pulling the strings in Snowden saga. Watch.
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