Preclearance

 

It's Been A Long, Long Time

Kiss me once, then kiss me twice
Then kiss me once again
It's been a long, long time

How long is a long, long time?

This is not a silly question. The Supreme Court in Shelby v. Holder ruled that the preclearance requirement of the Voting Rights Act was no longer valid because

“Our country has changed, and while any racial discrimination in voting is too much, Congress must ensure that the legislation it passes to remedy that problem speaks to current conditions.” 

It is true that while governments might have illegally discriminated in the past, no individual currently in government is being charged with that discrimination. Uh…... that is NOT what the Law says. Preclearance does not mean a government can not change their rules, only that governments who have exhibited a pattern of discrimination in the past must preclear those rule changes before they are implemented.

The fact that individuals currently alive do not discriminate does not change the fact that the governments in the past had discriminated. In a few weeks, on July Fourth, we will celebrate the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. I guess because no one alive today signed that Declaration we should not celebrate. In November we will celebrate Thanksgiving to commemorate an autumn feast by the Pilgrims. But since no one is alive who was at that feast, then I guess that any celebration is misplaced.  The same goes for Christmas, Passover, etc. Since no one was alive who was present at those events, the religions should not celebrate them. I also guess that the Armenians have forgiven the Turks because no one was alive who forced the march into the desert, and the Irish Catholics must be imagining the parades that Irish Protestants march to commemorate the Battle of the Boyne since none of the marchers were at that Battle. The point is that nations, religions, cultures, etc. exist far longer than the individuals who are currently in those groups. Saying that the group has done good or bad does not mean in any way that the current members have done good or bad. The group may last longer than any individual in that group. If the remedy is being applied to the group, the fact that the individuals in that group have changed is irrelevant. A long, long time to an individual of a group may not be a long, long time to that group.