AFJ PROVIDES COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF TODAY’S ORAL ARGUMENT ON THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT

Four legal scholars tackle key questions on AFJ’s Justice Watch blog

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 27, 2013: Four legal scholars are posting to the Alliance For Justice Justice Watch blog to provide comprehensive expert analysis of today’s oral argument before the Supreme Court in Shelby County, Ala., v. Holder. The case involves a challenge to a key portion of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, known as “Section 5.”

Posts can be found at http://afjjusticewatch.blogspot.com/search/label/VRAanalysis.

AFJ’s guest bloggers analyze:

• Whether the jurisdictions covered by Section 5 still need to be covered.Whether the geographic reach of the statute is justified.  Does it include too many places?  Does it include too few places?
• What has happened since the Court last took up the Voting Rights Act in 2009?
• What deference should the Court give to congressional findings of fact?

Guest bloggers are Prof. Franita Tolson of Florida State University, Prof. William Yeomans of American University, Prof. Bertrall Ross of the University of California Berkeley School of Law, and Prof. Gilda Daniels of the University of Baltimore School of Law.

Prof. Ross’s post is available now; the others will follow soon.  And check back on Friday when the blog posts will be enhanced with excerpts from the audio from the oral arguments.

Also available from AFJ:

• Video of AFJ President Nan Aron’s remarks at a rally outside the Supreme Court today.
• Prepared text of Aron’s remarks.
• An overview of the issues in the case.

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