Supreme Court puts voting rights on the menu
The new map also drew a legal challenge based on the claim that it, too, was a racial gerrymander that disadvantaged '
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After hearing arguments in the case in March, rather than issuing an opinion, the justices decided they had more questions, kicking the case to next term in order to hold another round of arguments.
But
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But that decision left in place Section 2 of the act, which gives citizens the right to challenge racially discriminatory voter laws or mapmaking after they go into effect.
That could soon change, especially if Justice Clarence Thomas can find four other justices who support his view, expressed in a dissent. Thomas believes that Section 2 violates the Constitution's Equal Protection Clause. In essence, he said the Constitution prohibits the consideration of race
at all
in redistricting, turning the seminal civil rights legislation that aimed to address the nation's long history of racial voter suppression on its head.
If four other justices join him in this view, the Voting Rights Act will, for all intents and purposes, be struck down. So the rescheduled arguments will be among the most pivotal of the next term.
If that weren't enough, the court also announced Monday that it will
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Another case to keep an eye on: The court
Transgender women have been used as red herrings by conservative activists who claim them to be a dangerous threat, despite the fact that trans women are grossly underrepresented in sports at the grade school, college, and professional level. Bans are literally solutions in search of a problem. But the scare tactics have been so successful that even some Democrats,
A Supreme Court ruling upholding such bans — and eroding the constitutional protections for LGBTQ people in the process — would be a profound sea change from 10 years ago, when the court underscored that all people have a fundamental right to marry, regardless of gender.
This is an excerpt from
, a newsletter about the Supreme Court from columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr.
Kimberly Atkins Stohr is a columnist for the Globe. She may be reached at
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