SCOTUS and Consequences

Supreme Court rulings have consequences -- sometimes narrow and limited, but often the results change our whole way of life.    One has to question whether the conservatives really get what they are doing.

Take for example the way the Citizens United decision has unleashed unlimited political contributions in disguise and transformed, for the worse, our political process.

Another example is the recent gutting of the voting rights act.   In a 5-4 decision, SCOTUS said the method of choosing which states require pre-clearance of laws affecting voting.   As if to prove the point, Texas, North Carolina, and a bevy of other states immediately trotted out their voter suppression laws.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who wrote a hard-hitting dissent to the decision, spoke out in an interview yesterday, saying that the result was predictable and proves the need for the law.  In her dissent, she ridiculed the idea -- that the law was so successful that it had to be repealed -- with the wonderful line:  "[It's] like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet."

Attorney General Eric Holder to the rescue:   Using what was left of the Voting Rights Act, he is suing the state of Texas, planning to show the court that Texas continues to violate voting rights and should have to continue pre-screening by the DOJ.   It's still possible -- but it will take lengthy court battles rather than being automatic for certain states.

Ralph