Sort of the End of an Era

Pre-clearance helped serve its purpose so completely and effectively that we live in a transformed America.

by Rod D. Martin
June 25, 2013

The Supreme Court's ruling today striking down pre-clearance under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 isn't all it's cracked up to be.  In the words of the Washington Examiner story describing the decision, "The court ruling leaves the preclearance tools in place, but eliminates the formula Congress used to decide who had to go through the special scrutiny. Chief Justice Roberts invited Congress to try to rewrite the formula to be more fair."

Even so, Ruth Bader Ginsburg's criticism of the decision is fundamentally correct:  the Supreme Court is essentially saying the Voting Rights Act has been so successful that it should be ended. And they're right.

The idea that states like Mississippi and Alabama should be singled out, forever burdened and forever stigmatized for the racist acts of today's citizen's great grandparents is simply ludicrous.  Congress might just as well strip South Carolina of its electoral votes in punishment for starting the Civil War (an act …