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Supreme Court Decides NAMUDNO: Voting Rights Act Narrowed, But Survives

By Jeralyn, Section Supreme Court
Posted on Mon Jun 22, 2009 at 12:07:07 PM EST
Tags: Voting Rights Act (all tags)
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In a 8 to 1 decision (pdf), the Supreme Court allows the Voting Rights Act to survive....barely.

The justices, voting 8-1, chose not to decide the constitutionality of a provision requiring that officials in eight states and parts of eight others get Justice Department clearance before making changes. The court instead said a small Texas utility district and other governmental bodies could seek an exemption. Justice Clarence Thomas issued a partial dissent.
Tony Mauro has more, as does Scotus Blog, which says:
Perhaps one of the main ways to read the Court’s ruling, then, is that it it a warning to Congress that it needs to reconsider Section 5, and shore it up, if it can, with a new formula for coverage, and provide some assurance that it will no longer single out some states to bear Section 5’s obligations in ways that the Court suggested were now unequal.

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