Today, five Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Shelby County vs. Holder that Section 4 of The Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional and as a result, the provisions of Section 5 cannot be enforced. The provision required certain localities, including two in Michigan, to submit their election law changes to the federal government for pre-approval.  The purpose was to ensure that the new laws would not discriminate against minority voters in that jurisdiction.   The court did not reject this concept of federal review, but did reject the method of determining which areas of the country should be subject to the coverage.  

Wayne State University Law School Dean Jocelyn Benson, who started her career at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery Ala., called the decision a "striking act of judicial activism that ignored a voluminous legislative record steeped in examples of ongoing acts of voting discrimination in certain parts of our country." 

"So much has been sacrificed, both abroad and on our own soil, so that the right to vote could be protected for all of us," Benson said. "The five Justices in the majority assumed that because threats to our democracy do not come in the dramatic form of tear gas and billy clubs, they are somehow less real.  But democracy is threatened any time an eligible voter is disenfranchised, every time a law is enacted on specious grounds that extend the time required to register or to cast a ballot, and any time gerrymandering results in districts that silence a community’s voice."

Noting the bipartisan nature of the issue, Benson called on members of Congress to "work together forcefully and effectively to ensure our fundamental right to vote is secure and protected for every American citizen.  This is a bipartisan goal and it needs to happen soon.  Every citizen of this country should demand that Republicans and Democrats in Congress embrace the court’s call to revise and update the law in accordance with today’s decision."

To interview Benson, email Brianna Fritz at brianna.fritz@wayne.edu or 313-577-2733