Shelby County v. Holder Tag Archive

Jeff Wice Serves on Voting Rights Panel at NCSL Summit

In front of a capacity crowd, Jeff Wice spoke Monday morning at the National Conference of State Legislatures on a panel regarding voting rights. Titled “Shelby County v. Holder: The Future of the Voting Rights Act,” Mr. Wice discussed the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision and how it affects state legislators and activists going forward. Prior to the ruling, legislatures in many southern states required pre-clearance from the federal Department of Justice in order to make any changes to voting procedures. However, the Court struck down this requirement, and many of the affected states are poised to begin changing their voting laws.

Despite many state legislators and activists alike taking an interest in the subject, he told Politico after the panel that “It’s a quiet before the storm period, and it’s hard to tell when the storm is going to hit. No one expects Congress to act, and there’s also a waitandsee approach to see how far think tanks and legal defense organizations go to bring lawsuits to expand [VRA] challenges.”

Read the full article from Politico, with a more complete write-up of the panel, here.

Jeff Wice to Moderate Panel on Shelby County v. Holder

On March 14, 2013, Jeff Wice will moderate a panel on the possible effects of the decision in Shelby County v. Holder. The panel is presented jointly by the New York Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society and LatinoJustice PRLDEF. Mr. Wice will moderate a panel consisting of Leah Aden ,Assistant Counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Juan Cartagena, President of LatinoJustice PRLDEF, and Myrna Pérez, Senior Counsel for the Brennan Center for Justice.

At issue in Shelby County v. Holder – which has been argued before the Supreme Court, but not yet decided – was the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. The panel will discuss how the case made its way to the Supreme Court, as well as the potential ramifications of the Supreme Court striking down the statute.

For more information on the panel, please visit the American Constitution Society’s website.