"The court, he said, had never been a friend to US democracy, and it never would be. For anyone committed to the advancement of majority rule, he added, judicial review is wrong in theory and dangerous in practice. The danger that Commager noted was on full display on 29 April 2026, when the supreme court eviscerated section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act."
"As the Department of Justice explains, section 2 prohibits voting practices or procedures that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or membership in one of the language minority groups or procedure that results in the denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen to vote on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group."
"But the Voting Rights Act decision is only the latest in a string of decisions in which the conservative-dominated supreme court has used its version of constitutional interpretation to wage war on constitutional democracy. Those decisions have opened the floodgates to the corrupting influence of money in politics, removed the federal government from the business of ensuring that states do not draw legislative districts in ways that disadvantage minority voters, and given the green light to partisan gerrymandering."
"They show what Commager long ago observed: that the only reliable way to preserve and improve US democracy is to act democratically by winning at the ballot box and prevailing in the legislative process. That lesson should inspire a massive turnout in the November election and a mass movement to pressure Congress to take steps to protect and reinvigorate democratic institutions and practices in this country."
The Supreme Court is described as hostile to U.S. democracy and as using constitutional interpretation to weaken democratic protections. Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act was invalidated on April 29, 2026. Section 2 is defined as prohibiting voting practices or procedures that discriminate based on race, color, or membership in language minority groups, or that deny or abridge voting rights for those reasons. The decision is presented as part of a broader pattern that enables greater influence of money in politics, reduces federal oversight of discriminatory districting, and permits partisan gerrymandering. The response urged is to preserve and improve democracy through electoral victories and legislative action, supported by large turnout and pressure on Congress to protect democratic institutions.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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