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Presidential Election 2016: Why Democrats’ Frustration with Shelby County May Be Misdirected
By Ali Boyd Associate Editor, Vol. 22 In the midst of a nationwide battle for civil rights, President Lyndon B. Johnson called on Congress to create one of the most expansive protections of voting rights ever seen. The result, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA), sought to protect…The 2016 Presidential Election: Quiet on Education Policy, Near Silent on K-12 Education Reform
By Madeleine McKay Jennings Associate Editor, Vol. 22 I wrote this post in the week preceding the United States presidential election. On November 8, by about 10 p.m., the subject of this writing seemed immediately irrelevant. In my personal and academic lives, I’ve placed much importance around this issue but,…Michigan Emergency Manager Law Upheld by Sixth Circuit
By Marcus Baldori Associate Editor, Vol. 22 On September 12, 2016, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Michigan’s controversial emergency manager law in a 3-0 decision. In general, the law provides that, when certain financial triggers are met, a state-appointed emergency manager will temporarily replace…Poll workers: gatekeepers of the democratic process
By Amy Luong Associate Editor, Vol. 21 Production Editor, Vol. 22 March marked an increased number of states that began imposing Voter ID requirements among other voting prerequisites.[1] In 2013, the Supreme Court declared the coverage formula, § 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), unconstitutional in Shelby…
Block the vote: North Carolina’s voting laws on trial
By Matt Johnson Associate Editor, Vol. 21 Contributing Editor, Vol. 22 Election season is upon us, and everything from stickers to lawn signs are meant to encourage the American people to get to the polls. However, there is a disturbing movement across the country, often codified by state…One person, one vote? The Supreme Court considers in Evenwel v. Abbott
By Tom Topping Associate Editor, Vol. 21 “One person, one vote,” a longstanding principle upon which our legislative districts are drawn, is under fire in a case currently pending before the Supreme Court. In Evenwel v. Abbott, the petitioners attack Texas’s policy of drawing state-level legislative districts in…Barriers to the Ballot Box: Implicit Bias and Voting Rights in the 21st Century
While much has been written regarding unconscious or “implicit bias” in other areas of law, there is a scarcity of scholarship examining how implicit bias impacts voting rights and how advocates can move courts to recognize evidence of implicit bias within the context of a voting rights claim. This Article aims to address that scarcity. After reviewing research on implicit bias, this Article examines how implicit bias might impact different stages of the electoral process. It then argues that “results test” claims under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) present an opportunity for plaintiffs to introduce evidence regarding implicit bias in the electoral process. In addition, this Article explores policy solutions to reduce the impact of implicit bias in elections.Supreme Court Allows Strict Texas Voter ID Law
By: Lauren Tortorella, Associate Editor Vol. 20 On October 18, the Supreme Court issued an order allowing Texas to use its strict voter ID law for the November election. The 2011 law requires voters to present a photo ID before voting at the polls. Some estimate this law will prevent…Court strikes down Virginia discriminatory congressional map
A federal court in Virginia struck down the state’s congressional map on Tuesday, October 7, 2014. The panel found that the state legislature’s decision to pack African Americans into the 3rd Congressional District, a district controlled by Democrats, was unconstitutional because it was motivated solely by race – a violation…
In the News: Voter ID Laws
Over the last couple of weeks, the social justice and voting rights communities have been abuzz with the news that Judge Richard A. Posner, who famously held in 2007 that an Indiana voter ID law did not impose an undue burden on voters, has changed his mind. Laws requiring…