Wednesday, February 27, 2013

"A Perpetuation of Racial Entitlement"


It's not hard to figure out where U.S. Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia stands on the Voting Rights Act of 1965.   When he labeled a provision that requires the Slave States to get federal approval before changing voting procedures a "perpetuation of racial entitlement" he didn't leave much doubt on how America's non-white population can expect to fare at the polls, especially in the American south.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. asked a skeptical question about whether people in the South are more racist than those in the North. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy asked how much longer Alabama must live “under the trusteeship of the United States government.”

The court’s more liberal members, citing data and history, said Congress remained entitled to make the judgment that the provision was still needed in the covered jurisdictions.

It’s an old disease,” Justice Stephen G. Breyer said of efforts to thwart minority voting. “It’s gotten a lot better. A lot better. But it’s still there.”

Four of the nine-member court’s five more conservative members asked largely skeptical questions about the law. The fifth, Justice Clarence Thomas, did not ask a question, as is typical. 

Jim Crow will ride again.   Just as soon as the U.S. Supreme Court saddles his horse.

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