voting rights act

For a comedian-turned-politician with no formal legal training, the newest senator and Judiciary Committee member, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) asked Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor some of the most complex but elucidating questions about Supreme Court cases we’ve heard yet. After bonding with Sotomayor over their mutual love of the Perry Mason show as kids, [...]

The U.S. Supreme Court today avoided striking down the Voting Rights Act by broadening the ability of political subdivisions to bail out of the requirement that they get approval from the Justice Department for any changes in their election rules or procedures.
It was clear that some members of the court, at least, were reluctant to [...]

Legal bloggers are abuzz about Sen. Arlen Specter’s (D-Pa.) swipe at Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts in an exacting letter (pdf) Specter sent to nominee Sonia Sotomayor earlier this week about the kind of questions he plans to ask at her confirmation hearing.
As Rick Hasen of Election Law Blog writes: “Though the letter is [...]