WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) – Wednesday, June 25, marks the one-year anniversary of the Shelby v. Holder Supreme Court decision that invalidated parts of the Voting Rights Act. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the Voting Rights Amendment Act (VRAA). Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, submitted for the record the following letter urging passage of the VRAA:
“On behalf of the Union for Reform Judaism, whose nearly 900 congregations encompass more than 1.3 million Reform Jews across North America and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, which represents more than 2,000 Reform rabbis, we strongly support the passage of the Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2014 (S. 1945).
“Jewish tradition teaches us that the selection of leaders is not a privilege but a collective responsibility. The Sage Hillel taught, “Do not separate yourself from the community” (Pirkei Avot 2:4). Rabbi Yitzchak taught that, ‘a ruler is not to be appointed unless the community is first consulted’ (Babylonian Talmud, B’rachot 55a). In keeping with the insight of these teachings, we have long felt that it is the duty of all who cherish democracy to ensure that all eligible citizens are afforded the opportunity to vote and have their votes counted. The right to vote is fundamental to American democracy, and the Reform Jewish Movement has for the past century strongly supported legislation that protects the rights of all citizens to be free of discrimination in their efforts to exercise the right to vote.
The Supreme Court’s decision one year ago in Shelby v. Holder invalidated key parts of the Voting Rights Act. Unfortunately, while it is true that voter discrimination is less rampant than it was when the Voting Rights Act was first passed in 1965, to suggest, as this decision does, that it no longer exists is simply inaccurate. The legal protections that remain are inadequate to uphold the voting rights of all Americans, and in the aftermath of the Court’s Shelby decision, many states previously covered by the invalidated ‘preclearance’ formula have tested the extent to which they can legally limit citizens’ access to the ballot box, by introducing, and in some cases passing, restrictive voting laws. The Voting Rights Amendment Act (S. 1945) is a bicameral, bipartisan bill that would play a key role in upholding those rights. The bill reflects contemporary realities, is flexible and forward-looking, and directly addresses the concerns of the Court in Shelby.
The Union for Reform Judaism and Central Conference of American Rabbis strongly urge Congress to pass swiftly the Voting Rights Amendment Act. It is vital to ensure that the protections that voters have enjoyed for decades remain protected in advance of the elections this November.
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Preceding provided by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
First, there isn’t any legislation needed. The Shelby County decision was aimed at only one section of the Voting Rights Act – the preclearance provision, requiring some (mostly southern) jurisdictions to get permission in advance from the federal government before making any change related to voting – and the rest of the Act remains in full force, including other, potent enforcement provisions for every jurisdiction in the country.
And, indeed, for better or worse the Justice Department and civil-rights groups are now using those other provisions to try to advance their agendas, which amount to a war on voter-ID requirements and ensuring the continued racial gerrymandering and segregation of voting districts. There’s no evidence that the Left needs more weapons in its arsenal; all that’s different in the post–Shelby County world is that now its lawyers have to prove racial discrimination before they can get court relief, which is the way that every other civil-rights law works.
The second point: Much in the bill has nothing to do with Shelby County at all. Rather, the Court’s decision is being used as an excuse to enact the Left’s wish-list in voting policy. In particular, the Left wants to promote its plaintiffs’ lawyers to the status of the attorney general in making civil-rights enforcement decisions, and to give attorneys general like Eric Holder nearly boundless authority to bring politically correct lawsuits under the Fourteenth Amendment. All this is a standard demand for the civil-rights groups whenever they (deservedly) lose a case and run to Congress.
The Left’s agenda is, of course, a decidedly color-conscious one. Thus, the bill itself features racial classifications, and offers protections for “minority voters” that it withholds from “nonminority” voters.
Key provisions of the bill attempt to reinstate the “preclearance” provision of the Voting Rights Act by amending another section of the Act so that it is triggered even when there has been no constitutional violation, as is now required by that section. This raises the same sort of constitutional issue that resulted in the Shelby County decision in the first place, since Congress would again be acting to limit state prerogatives even though it lacks a constitutional predicate for doing so.
What’s more, the new legislation is an attempt to ensure that the Voting Rights Act works principally as a “disparate impact” statute. This approach to civil-rights enforcement is favored by the Obama administration, as shown by its new school-discipline “guidance” this year. But that approach is not about stopping real discrimination; it’s about ensuring racial proportionality by eliminating legitimate standards and procedures.