The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday stepped back from a major showdown over the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act, ruling instead that because jurisdictions covered by the law can seek to be exempted from its provisions, it was unnecessary for the Court to decide whether the statute should be scrapped altogether.
The 8-1 ruling in Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Holder both surprised and pleased civil rights advocates, who were nearly certain after that April oral arguments that the Court was poised to strike down the law outright, eliminating what they view as a crucial weapon in the struggle for political equality. They feared that the law’s success — symbolized by the election of an African-American president last November — would be the law’s undoing, even though they argue it is still needed in some parts of the country.
