The Supreme Court has opened the floodgates: Less than a year since state legislatures, governors and secretaries of state in both the north and south tried to suppress minority voting via a bagful of dirty tricks, the Supreme Court has gutted the long-standing Voting Rights Act–which has long been lauded as one of the most successful pieces of civil-rights legislation ever enacted in the U.S. Ignoring what happened during the 2012 presidential campaign–remember Florida? Ohio? Pennsylvania?–the Supreme Court thinks that “our country has changed,” we’re post-racial [They’re joking, right?], and that we don’t need to make sure, in advance, that states don’t enact discriminatory voting laws. But the 5-4 Supreme Court majority essentially gives a free pass to any state that wants to do precisely that.. The laws might not stand forever, says the Court’s decision, but what the heck: States can enact them and worry about court challenges later. Great plan. Remember how well that worked for us before the Voting Rights Act?
That’s my take on it. Here’s how political cartoonists portray the Great Supreme Court Voting Rights Debacle of 2013.
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