It is hard to tell what is more disturbing about Attorney General Eric Holder’s July 25 speech to the National Urban League in Philadelphia: That the nation’s top cop openly vowed to do something the Supreme Court said just last month was unconstitutional or that the announcement elicited barely a peep out of the mainstream media. Holder said he would ignore the court’s Shelby County v. Holder ruling on the Voting Rights Act, at least concerning Texas. That means the Lone Star State will continue to have to submit any changes to its voting procedures — including everything from how districts are drawn to voter-ID requirements — to Holder’s Department of Justice for prior approval. That is, the very requirement the court ruled impermissible under the Constitution.
Technically, DOJ would employ a different provision of the Voting Rights Act that permits preclearance requirements if the department finds a state has violated the 14th or 15th Amendments. But there is little doubt Holder was making an end-run around the court ruling. “My colleagues and I are determined to use every tool at our disposal to stand against discrimination,” he said, adding that “these remaining tools are no substitute for legislation that must fill the void left by the Supreme Court’s decision.”
