Mitchell Reports | February 27, 2013
Historic Voting Rights Act may be in danger
NBC's Pete Williams has more from Capitol Hill where the Supreme Court listened to oral arguments over portions of the Voting Rights Act.
Share This:
Mitchell Reports
-
White House slow response to controversies could derail agenda
Mitchell Reports
May 17, 2013 -
Obama administration works overtime on damage control
Mitchell Reports
May 17, 2013 -
Syria remains a problem for US, Israel
Mitchell Reports
May 17, 2013 -
Can genetic testing help women prevent a breast cancer diagnosis?
Mitchell Reports
May 17, 2013 -
Military under fire amid new allegations of abuse
Mitchell Reports
May 17, 2013 -
Obama vows to crack down on military sexual assaults
Mitchell Reports
May 17, 2013 -
Suicide attack in Afghanistan threatens peace
Mitchell Reports
May 16, 2013 -
Female congressional leaders demand major changes to military sexual assault laws
Mitchell Reports
May 16, 2013 -
Obama tries 'to separate issues in an attempt to solve problems'
Mitchell Reports
May 16, 2013 -
IG report blames bad management, not politics, in IRS targeting of Tea Party groups
Mitchell Reports
May 15, 2013 -
Van Hollen hopes Congress can 'walk and chew gum at the same time'
Mitchell Reports
May 15, 2013 -
Fmr. Marine imprisoned in Iran for two years reaches out to family in US
Mitchell Reports
May 15, 2013
This content comes from Closed Captioning that was broadcast along with this program.
>> historic voting rights act could be in danger as a number of supreme court justices overturned the 1965 law. nbcs justice correspondent pete williams joins me now from the supreme court . pete , from the arguments today, what is your impression of what way the court might be moving?
>> well, you know, the court didn't come with a blank slate . four years ago, the court looked at the same question and laid down a marker. we were watching to see if the justices that were skeptical then changed their mind? the answer is no. five votes to strike down a key part of the voting rights act . it's a law that requires states with a history of discrimination to get permission before they make changes in how they change their elections. strike down a companion part of which states are covered by the law. they think it's out of date. chief roberts asked which state has the worst record in registering and turnouts of african-americans? answer he said, massachusetts, mississippi is best. at another point he said to the solicitor general, do you think people in the south are more racist than people in the north? it's questions like that that made it clear that chief justice roberts thinks the law is out of date. the other key vote, justice kennedy expressed the same concerns. the marshall plan was a great idea at the time it passed. it's backward looking. not taking enough account of where things stand now.
>> pete , what about the fact that many people believe there was rampant voter suppression to try to keep minorities from voting? does that have any impact of that argument about efforts to stop african-americans from voting because of republican legislatures, republican state capitals who were concerned about more democratic votes?
>> reporter: it cuts both way. the supporters say a-ha. it's why we need the preclearance effort. strict voter id laws in texas and south carolina . opponents of the law say the similar restrictions were challenged using another part of the law that doesn't require the states to get permission in advance. they can sue them if they think they are discriminating.
>> thank you very much, pete