Janai Nelson president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund is back up. Again, she is the only lawyer before the court arguing for maintaining §2 of the #VRA as it is. There are 3 lawyers arguing against her, 1 each for the State of #Louisiana, the #Trump admin, & #white voters in Louisiana.
“Louisiana is emblematic of the ongoing need for Section 2,” she said.
She closes her argument, the case is submitted. Court adjourned.
#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy
A key part of the #VotingRightsAct, the 1965 #CivilRights landmark, appears at risk after arguments in a case from #Louisiana before #SCOTUS on Wednesday. It is at least possible that the court will rule unconstitutional a provision allowing states to use #race as a factor in drawing electoral maps.
But even if the #law survives its encounter with the justices, it faces a second significant challenge, from #NorthDakota. The court will consider whether to hear an appeal in that case in November.
The #Louisiana case heard Wednesday raises the possibility that #SCOTUS will rule that the #law, in seeking to protect minority voters, runs afoul of a *conservative* understanding of the #14thAmendment, one that forbids the government from making distinctions based on #race.
In the #NorthDakota case, the US Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit ruled in July that only the government, not voters or other private parties, can sue to enforce the voting law.
