Page 47 - 15th Amendment News Today

It is true that we have seen the supreme court that was the body of the politic that was actually able to uphold the constitutional rights of the 14th and the 15th amendment and gave us "brown v. board" and we have had this idea that the supreme court gives us the voting laws, and that is the part of the government to en shrine them first and most protective of the right from the tyranny of the majority, and yet, we are seeing that the court is the most reactionary, and one of the greatest threa...

Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. we have, in fact, seen tremendous progress over the last 50 years, but we also see tremendous discrimination, and the right to be free from that discrimination when youre exercising the right to vote is not entitlement. its an american birth right. >> we have to play for everybody the tapes because theyre stunning. the two of you were there. justices sonia sotomayor and elena kagan, both new to the bench, gave some of the strongest push bac...

To vote is a racial entilement in section 5? >> no, the 15th amendment protects the right of all to vote -- >> i asked a different question. do you think section 5 was voted for because it was a racial entitlement? >> well, congress -- >> that, of course, was justice sonia sotomayor taking the phrase used by justice scalia and throwing it into the face of the attorney arguing in favor of weakening the voting rights act. joining us now is my colleague toure, co-host of "the cycle" and msnbc contr...

Congresswoman sheila jackson lee of texas. congresswoman, great to have you with us tonight. >> ed, good to be with you this evening. >> you bet. this story deserves more conversation. thats why were doing it tonight. i mean, it sounds like justice scalia is prepared to do the dirty work of the right wing here and justify in the most offensive way possible. your thoughts on this. >> ed, im glad youre doing this show. first of all, i was in the courtroom as well. and all of us have such an enormo...

Whos black and whos white. its a shockingly, naive view of race in this country. >> ujoeugene, doesnt it make, l read a quote "todays court features five conservative justices committed to a color blind view of equality who find offensive laws that take race into account, even for ameliorative. >> i grew up in south carolina and was 9 years old when the voting rights act made possible, made it possible for people in my family to vote. so, you know, in elections where they really couldnt before. ...

Members of congress from voting against the act. >> right, justice scalia said you have more and more republicans voting for it. theyre afraid to vote against it. the rebuttal from the solicitor general says the task is really not to delve into it. the other argument, especially by chief justice roberts, you hear it at barbecues, well, we have a black president and black elected officials. what is the problem? the problem is the voting rights act is not about electing black people. it is about b...

Election change would not discriminate against minority voters. >> one question the supreme court will ask, how much has the south changed? the reference point? bloody sunday, march 7th, 1965. state troopers tossing tear gas, swinging clubs, and leading horses over those wanting to protect the right to vote for african-americans. 600 peaceful protesters were attacked there. that led to president johnson signing the voting rights act, 1965, saying government cannot deny citizens the right to vote...

Jimmy, what happens if section 5 of the voting rights act is knocked down? does it go back to the congress? and what happens when its considered by the congress? >> when they passed the 15th amendment it gave congress a huge amount of latitude, if you will, to do whatever they need to do legislatively under that amendment to the constitution. if the court strikes down section 5 and even worse section 2 which applies to the entire country, then the congress would have to go back in and would have...

Supreme court will take up a challenge to the voting right act and it could have a massive impact on u.s. elections. at the heart is section 5, which requires certain town, counties and states to get pre-clearance from a court before making changes to voting procedures in districts. here to break it down is the former assistant district attorney. >> great to see you, shannon. >> shannon: elizabeth, what is at stake snitch the voting rights act is one of the most iconic laws that has passed in th...

Hours, standing. it was a six-hour wait, and she was told to come back after the three-hour wait. >> one of the great things that lbj did after the death of kennedy in the mid-60s was the voting rights act. first the civil rights act and then the voting rights act. one was public accommodations. and then the voting rights act was an attempt to give real power to black people by saying if you want power down the road in any area, you got to vote. and you couldnt vote in the south. >> right. >> be...