![]() Citing earlier precedents, the court concluded that Congress had the power through the 15 th Amendment to dismantle laws with racially discriminatory effects as well. ![]() In Roberts’ Milligan majority opinion, the court upheld Section 2’s constitutionality against Alabama’s claim that Congress only has the power to ban intentional discrimination, not just those voting laws with discriminatory effects. ![]() The first attack is a separate constitutional one from the one that failed in Milligan. And the varied opinions in the Milligan case leave open at least two major lines of attack against the VRA-that the act is no longer constitutional and that it does not give private plaintiffs a right to sue-that may once again test Roberts’ and Kavanaugh’s commitment to voting rights in cases down the road. But whatever the reason, best to not look a gift horse in the mouth.ĭespite Roberts’ strong opinion in Milligan reaffirming the vitality of Voting Rights Act jurisprudence and confirming the constitutionality of Section 2, there’s no reason to expect that voting rights’ opponents will drop their attacks as they seek to maximize the power of white majority voters. They may have reached this result based on a legitimate change of heart or acted more strategically to blunt the force of an upcoming decision likely to be adverse to minority interests in the school affirmative action cases. That two conservative justices, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, would join the court’s liberal justices in protecting minority voting rights, even a little, was remarkable given these justices’ earlier track records in voting cases. Milligan was surprisingly good news: rather than hobble or destroy the existing protections for minority voters to elect their candidates of choice in congressional, state, and local elections under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the Supreme Court essentially left existing law intact. Last week’s voting rights decision in Allen v. Sign up for the pop-up newsletter to receive our latest updates, and support our work when you join Slate Plus. ![]() We’re working to change the way the media covers the Supreme Court. This is part of Opinionpalooza, Slate’s coverage of the major decisions from the Supreme Court this June. ![]()
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