In the second of 3 landmark cases to be reviewed by the Supreme Court this week, a key clause of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Section 4, was struck down in a 5-4 decision. While the law itself remains in effect, the 9 states it impacted—Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia—are not under its supervision.
In fact, the law will no longer have any regulatory power, unless Congress can agree on which states, if any, have a recent history of racial discrimination in voting. Partisan lines of battle drawn since President Obama’s first election make that so unlikely, Justice Clarence Thomas (majority) recommended simply striking it down entirely, rather than leaving “the inevitable conclusion unstated,” the NYTimes.com reports.
Some claim the decision itself was partisan, writes the WashingtonPost.com. In a highly unusual move, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (pictured) read her dissent from the bench, emphasizing the divide between liberals and conservatives in the decision. Regardless, the decision will have immediate effects: Texas and Virginia intend to go forward with previously prohibited or postponed changes to voting procedures.