The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Feb. 27 in a lawsuit that challenges a central provision of the Voting Rights Act. The court announced the scheduling Monday. The case, Shelby County v. Holder, is just one of three high-profile civil rights cases on the court’s docket next year. The justices are also set to rule on affirmative action and same-sex marriage.
In the voting rights case, the justices will weigh a section of the Voting Rights Act that requires states and counties with a history of racial discrimination to get permission from the federal government before changing their voting laws.
The court came close to striking down that provision once before, and in the context of affirmative action, the court’s more conservative justices have questioned whether civil rights programs from decades past are still necessary in an era of more rapid demographic change.
Full Article: Court to hear voting rights case in Feb. – The Hill.