High court rules narrowly in voting rights case

[Political Tiger]

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court ruled narrowly Monday in a challenge to the landmark Voting Rights Act, exempting a small Texas governing authority from a key provision of the civil rights law but side-stepping the larger constitutional issue.

The court, with only one justice in dissent, avoided the major constitutional questions raised in the case over the federal government's most powerful tool to prevent discriminatory voting changes since the mid-1960s.

The law requires all or parts of 16 states, mainly in the South, with a history of discrimination in voting to get approval in advance of making changes in the way elections are conducted.

The court said that the Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 in Austin, Texas, can opt out of the advance approval requirement, reversing a lower federal court that found it could not.

<...>

The court's avoidance of the larger issue explains the consensus among justices in the case rendered Monday, where they otherwise likely would have split along conservative-liberal lines.

Justice Clarence Thomas, alone among this colleagues, said he would have resolved the case and held that the provision, known as Section 5, is unconstitutional.

"The violence, intimidation and subterfuge that led Congress to pass Section 5 and this court to uphold it no longer remains," Thomas said.

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I think Clarence Thomas needs to get out more, to say the least!

[kwassa]

1. Clarence Thomas is a shithead.

He has to be one of the most psychologically screwed-up people to ever hit the Supreme Court...

[bliss_eternal]

2. Another massive tool....

...for the machine. He and Alan Keyes are cut from the same deranged, sexist, racist, patriarchical ass-kissing cloth.

[Brewman_Jax]

3. Uncle Clarence has never agreed with anything having to do with civil rights

I guess that doesn't matter once you've sold your soul to become a RW lawn jockey. :(

[Raineyb]

4. Clarence Thomas hasn't seen a way to screw over black people that he didn't agree with.

The man is a total asshole and never should have been put on the Supreme Court.

There aren't enough derogatory and pejorative words I could come up with to describe this disgusting excuse for a human being.

[Number23]

5. You guys know that many of the challenges are coming from Republicans, right?

They've decided that since a black guy is in the White House that racism, including minority voter suppression, are things of the past.

I posted an OP about this a month or so ago in GD. This being DU, of course no one gave less than a damn.

ETA: Here's my sad little OP - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=5622434

[Kind of Blue]

6. I just pray that something happens

to cause Thomas to retire early. Just thinking about him makes me sad.