A Cure Worse than the Disease?

14 Pages Posted: 31 May 2013 Last revised: 19 Nov 2013

See all articles by Ellen D. Katz

Ellen D. Katz

University of Michigan Law School

Date Written: May 30, 2013

Abstract

The pending challenge to section 5 of the Voting Rights Act insists the statute is no longer necessary. Should the Supreme Court agree, its ruling is likely to reflect the belief that section 5 is not only obsolete but that its requirements do more harm today than the condition it was crafted to address. This short essay examines why the Court might liken section 5 to a destructive treatment and why reliance on that analogy in the pending case threatens to leave the underlying condition unaddressed and Congress without the power to address it.

Keywords: Voting Rights Act, Shelby County

JEL Classification: J70, J71, K1

Suggested Citation

Katz, Ellen, A Cure Worse than the Disease? (May 30, 2013). 123 Yale Law Journal Online, 2013, U of Michigan Public Law Research Paper No. 366, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2272180

Ellen Katz (Contact Author)

University of Michigan Law School ( email )

625 South State Street
LR 960
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1215
United States
734-647-6241 (Phone)

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