Maryland Law Review
Volume 68, Issue 3
What Will The Life Of Riley V. Kennedy Mean For Section 5 Of The Voting Rights Act?
By Michael J. Pitts [Full Text]
Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 requires certain state and local governments to submit changes in their voting practices to the federal government for approval prior to implementation (i.e., for preclearance) so that the federal government can block changes that discriminate against minority voters. Riley v. Kennedy—decided by the Supreme Court of the United States during the 2007 Term—is an unusual Section 5 case involving whether the State of Alabama had to secure preclearance for a switch in the method of filling vacancies on the Mobile County Commission.
This Article develops in detail the two potential paths the life of Riley might take. The first Part makes the case for the narrow application of Riley. The second Part adopts the view that Riley represents a much more dangerous decision for the vitality of Section 5 than it may seem at first glance. This Part develops the idea that Riley marks the first step in a new Supreme Court strategy to make Section 5 less effective in protecting the fundamental rights of minority voters through the trimming of the procedural side of Section 5. This Part also describes in detail two additional areas where the Court might, in the future, trim Section 5’s procedural scope. Finally, the Article concludes with a call for Congress to take action to ensure that Riley remains a narrow opinion and not the harbinger of something much, much worse.
Citation: Michael J. Pitts, What Will the Life of Riley v. Kennedy Mean for Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act?, 68 Md. L. Rev. 481 (2009).
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