Has the South Outgrown the Voting Rights Act?

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After the re-election of America's first black president, Alabama and other states want the US Supreme Court to throw out a key section of the Voting Rights Act. It requires states and localities with histories of racial discrimination to check with the Justice Department when they change voting laws. Democrats and Republicans extended it almost unanimously in 2006, and George W. Bush signed the new law. But in a case financed by a shadowy conservative fundraiser, states claim they're being punished for sins of the past. Do last year's elections tell a different story? The Supreme Court will hear arguments next week. Did Chief Justice Roberts invite the challenge?

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President George W. Bush signs the Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006 on Thursday, July 27, 2006

 

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Host:

Warren Olney