I Cannot Overemphasize the Risks We Face from Losing the Voting Rights Act

"Sometime at the end of next April, the carefully manufactured conservative majority on the United States Supreme Court will finish off the Voting Rights Act. It will do so on the basis of threadbare arguments easily summarized by the phrase: "Black civil rights discriminate against white people like me." On Wednesday, the Supreme Court conducted the usual shadow play that it performs before issuing a ruling, which was preordained the moment John Roberts became Chief Justice."

"In 2013, he and the Court vivisected most of the VRA in Shelby County v. Holder. Now, Roberts gets to apply the coup de grace. The arguments on Wednesday were a masterclass in predictability; each side knew good and well which way the Court will eventually rule. (I'll take the classic 63 with only Justice Amy Coney Barrett's vote in question.) Here are the stakes, and here is the point of it all."

"From The New York Times: While state laws restricting gerrymandering have mostly been enacted by Democrats in blue and purple states, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is the main legal limitation on gerrymandering in many red states, particularly in the South. It bans voting practices that discriminate based on race, which has been interpreted to require the creation of majority-minority districts in areas with racially polarized voting and where minority groups represent a majority of the population."

A conservative Supreme Court majority is positioned to eliminate critical protections of the Voting Rights Act by the end of next April. The Court previously gutted much of the VRA in Shelby County v. Holder (2013), and current arguments aim to finish the job. Section 2 currently constrains gerrymandering in many red states by banning race-based voting practices and requiring majority-minority districts where racially polarized voting exists and minorities form a population majority. Removing Section 2 would allow Republican state legislatures to erase majority-minority districts, undermining Democratic representation and enabling racially discriminatory redistricting.

Read at www.esquire.com