Court Prepares to Write New Chapters in Civil Rights History : NPR
It’s not unusual for the Supreme Court to find itself at the center of roiling national debates.
But this month, justices are poised to deliver blockbuster opinions involving three of the most divisive issues in the public arena. And in doing so, they will write new and potentially groundbreaking chapters in America’s civil rights story.
Affirmative action. Voting rights law. Same-sex marriage.
By June’s end, Americans will know if and how public colleges and universities may administer programs designed to enroll more minority students.
Whether a key 1965 Voting Rights Act provision will survive, and with it federal monitoring of places with histories of discriminatory voting practices.
And if congressional action barring federal recognition of same-sex marriage is constitutional, and similar state restrictions enforceable.
“It is fascinating to see the court right smack in the middle of the hottest political controversies in the country,” says Stephen Wermiel, a court and constitutional law expert, “albeit deciding their legal dimension, but with extraordinary societal ramifications.”
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