Surprise!
On Monday, the Supreme Court issued a surprising decision in Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District v. Holder. Based on the statements made and questions asked at the oral arguments in April, pundits and experts (and myself included) predicted with relative certainty that the Court would strike down Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
That did not happen. Nor, really, did the Court reaffirm the validity of Section 5. Instead, the Court chose to avoid the question of the constitutionality of Section 5 altogether, answering a smaller question of whether individual districts can "bail out" of Section 5's pre-clearance requirement.
The Court determined that any covered districts, such as the Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District, which brought this particular suit, should have the opportunity to prove that its history of discrimination at the polls is just that--history.
The Religious Action Center, along with many other groups, welcomed the decision and the survival of Section 5. This essential provision has long provided an essential protection for minority communities, ensuring that they do not encounter unnecessary barriers when attempting to vote. And now, it will continue to provide this protection for many years to come (or, at least until the Supreme Court decides to take up the constitutional question that they did not answer in this case).
The Supreme Court released a total of seven decisions this week. There are only three outstanding decisions, all of which will likely be issued on Monday June 29th, concluding this year's Supreme Court term.