And they aren't saying that discrimination doesn't exist. They acknowledge it right in the preamble of the opinion.
Posted by
spamlet
Jun 25 '13, 07:23
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Nearly 50 years later, they are still in effect; indeed,
they have been made more stringent, and are now scheduled to last until 2031. There is no denying, however, that
the conditions that originally justified these measures no
longer characterize voting in the covered jurisdictions. By
2009, �the racial gap in voter registration and turnout
[was] lower in the States originally covered by §5 than it
[was] nationwide.� Northwest Austin Municipal Util. Dist.
No. One v. Holder, 557 U. S. 193, 203�204 (2009). Since
that time, Census Bureau data indicate that AfricanAmerican voter turnout has come to exceed white voter
turnout in five of the six States originally covered by §5,
with a gap in the sixth State of less than one half of one
percent. See Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau, Reported Voting and Registration, by Sex, Race and Hispanic Origin, for States (Nov. 2012) (Table 4b).
At the same time, voting discrimination still exists; no
one doubts that. The question is whether the Act�s extraordinary measures, including its disparate treatment of
the States, continue to satisfy constitutional requirements.
As we put it a short time ago, �the Act imposes current
burdens and must be justified by current needs.� Northwest Austin, 557 U. S., at 203
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