When the Supreme Court grants review of a case, it usually accepts the wording of the “question presented” by the petitioner’s brief.

In granting certiorari on Nov. 9 in the voting rights case Shelby County v. Holder, the court did a slight rewrite of the question offered by Shelby County, adding the Fourteenth Amendment to the case—and giving a glimmer of hope to worried supporters of the Voting Rights Act.