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| Cherylyn Harley LeBon |
The high court yesterday agreed to hear a constitutional challenge (Shelby County, Alabama v. Eric H. Holder Jr.) to the part of the landmark Voting Rights Act that requires all or parts of 16 states with a history of racial discrimination in voting to get federal approval before making any changes in the way they hold elections.
From the news release of Project 21, a black conservative group:
"We applaud the Supreme Court for agreeing to hear a case that will impact local municipalities and their ability to ensure that the electoral process fits the needs of their communities and is done to in an efficient and timely manner," says Project 21 co-chairman Cherylyn Harley LeBon. "It was not the intent of the Voting Rights Act to keep preclearance suspicions in place for generations. The Court now has the opportunity to reform the Act and reduce this suspicion so that people are judged equally."
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| Horace Cooper |
The black conservative group joined an
amicus curie ('friend of the court') brief urging the Court to accept the case.
That brief was authored by the Pacific Legal Foundation and joined by the Center for Equal Opportunity.
In the case, Shelby County officials ask the Court to invalidate "preclearance" standards imposed on specific states and localities by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Project 21 co-chairman Horace Cooper, a former law professor and top congressional aide, said: "[Yesterday], the Supreme Court has moved us one step closer to ending unfair federal interference of local election laws. Absent a showing of discriminatory intent, cities and states should not have to get permission for every proposed election law change. Election violations and suppression have changed from 50 years ago, and so should the laws governing dealing with it."
