SCOTUS Upheld Voting Rights Act, Conveniently After Gift-Wrapping GOP Shiny New House Majority

You can’t help feeling conned.

The Supreme Court surprised us all last week when Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh (the one who enjoys beach weeks and beer) joined the three non-corrupt justices and upheld what remained of the Voting Rights Act. Let's not break ground on their memorials just yet, though. Back in February 2022, the Court issued an unsigned five to four order staying two federal district court rulings that instructed Alabama to redraw its racist Jim Crow-gerrymandered map.

 Melissa Murray and Steve Vladeck wrote in the Washington Post:  

This intervention in Alabama produced direct and indirect effects in other states, as well. In June, the justices likewise put back into effect the congressional maps drawn by the Louisiana legislature even though a district court invalidated them for the same reasons as the Alabama courts — a ruling the ultraconservative U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit declined to disturb. And in Georgia, a district judge who also believed that the state had drawn congressional maps in violation of Section 2 nevertheless refused to block the maps — entirely because the Supreme Court had put the Alabama maps back into effect.

The Supreme Court's intervention last year likely gave Republicans their narrow House majority, and the court now mostly concedes that this majority was obtained through racist gerrymandering. Whoops. 

PREVIOUSLY:

 Rightwing Supreme Court Crazies ... Uphold What's Left Of Voting Rights Act? Wait, Really? 

 Federal Court Tosses Alabama's Preposterous Racial Gerrymander 

 Supreme Court Conservatives Say Racial Gerrymanders Are Very Cool, Very Legal 

 Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Is Here To VERY POLITELY F*ck Your Sh*t Up! 

The court's ruling could have ripple effects wherever Republicans sought to neutralize Black political power. There are currently court challenges to jacked-up congressional maps in Louisiana , South Carolina, and Georgia, where a newly resuscitated Voting Rights Act could apply.

The plaintiffs in a Georgia case claim that the Republican-drawn maps made a metro Atlanta district whiter than an Ann Taylor outlet and even more Republican-leaning. However, people of color have fueled Georgia's population growth over the past decade, while the white population has decreased. Last year, a judge wrote in a ruling that he believed Georgia's new maps might violate the Voting Rights Act but — aw shucks! — it was just too late to correct them before the midterms. This was in March 2022, so it's unclear why the courts think it takes so long to change a racist congressional map. It's not like we're waiting for the next installment of Game of Thrones .

After the Supreme Court's ruling, Cook Political Report shifted five House ratings in the Democrats' direction. The Republicans in trouble are Jerry Carl and Barry Moore from Alabama, along with Julia Letlow and Garret Graves from Louisiana. Democrat Don Davis in North Carolina will potentially have a more secure seat. Dave Wasserman hasn't quite seen enough, but he thinks it's "very likely two formerly Solid R seats will end up in Solid D."

Yurij Rudensky, senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice, told Mother Jones , "2022, we now know, happened under illegal maps." However, justice might not occur swiftly. Reporter Pema Levy writes, "Given the sluggish pace of litigation and appeals, it could be years before fair maps are implemented in multiple states across the South."

Chief Justice Roberts is directly to blame for this situation. His majority opinion in Shelby County v. Holder killed the “preclearance” rule that required jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination in voting — you know, like South Carolina, Alabama, and George — to proactively seek permission from the Justice Department or a federal court before making any changes to voting procedures.

Without preclearance, bad actors can draw brazenly corrupt maps and even if the Supreme Court intervenes, it could take multiple election cycles before the matter's resolved. Political analyst Cliston Brown suggests that Alabama Republicans will simply try to run out the clock: They'll "submit a series of unacceptable maps it knows the court is certain to reject. This will continue for about a year or so ... Alabama will then plead that it is too late to change the map because it’s too close to the election ... The court will agree and Alabama will punt redistricting until the next cycle ... The process will start all over again in 2025. Wash, rinse, repeat."

We can only hope Republicans don't get away with such a cynical move.

[ Washington Post / NPR / Mother Jones ]

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