talking about with the lbj legacy. voting rights has become a key issue, particularly a new set of laws in north carolina that will be put into practice for the first time in the may 6th primary. north carolina isn t the only state grappling with this voting rights issue. several other southern states are dealing with changes to their election rules as well. that comes on the heels of that landmark supreme court decision to lift requirements that were put in place by the voting rights act itself in 65. nine states and parts of six others are required to get federal permission before changing voting laws. the states have been identified as having laws on the books that restricted voters opportunities to register or vote. laws that typically targeted minorities. that included 40 counties in the state of north carolina of the last year the south carolina struck down the provision arguing that it was based on decades-old data and eradicated practices. within months the tar heel state pas
kept up. the act requires states with a history of voter discrimination to get permission from the federal government before changing how they conduct elections. the court left that part intact. but it struck down the map, the coverage formula of where that will requirement applies. that s all of nine mostly southern states and parts of six others. chief justice john roberts said the map is based on decades old data and eradicated practices. in five of the covered southern states, he said, african-americans have a higher voter turnout percentage than whites. opponents of the law who helped shelby county, alabama challenge it, hailed the ruling we ve just elected a black president of the shell bill county board of education over a white incumbent. in a county wide election. african-americans are an integral part of southern political life and that s a good thing and that s never going to change. but writing for the court s four dissenters, justice ruth bader ginsburg said gutting
for changes in election law was outdated and unfair. righting to the majority chief justice john roberts. nearly 50 years later he writes things have changed dramatically. they are based on decades old data ander r and eradicated practices. it is one size fits all not for arizona and georgia that places like new york and idaho don t have to fly with. i think a great constitutional order has been restored today. that s a wonderful thing for our system of government. the case also drew blistering dissent from justice ruth bader ginsberg who calls this the demolition of the voting rights act. either way it s something that congress may ultimately revisit. doug luzader live in washington. in just a few hours testimony will resume in the george zimmerman trial and more powerful evidence is expected
of 1965, there would be no barack obama as president of the united states of america. we ve come too far, made too much progress to go back. this decision represents a serious setback for voting rights. and has the potential to negatively affect millions of americans across the country. in a 5-4 ruling the court s conservatives said the areas covered by the voting rights act have changed but the law has not kept up. the act requires states with a history of voter discrimination to get permission from the federal government before changing how they conduct elections. the court left that part intact. but it struck down the map, the coverage formula of where that requirement applies. that s all of nine mostly southern states and parts of six others. chief justice kru john roberts said the map is based on decades-old data and eradicated practices. in five of the covered southern states, he said, african-americans have a higher voter turnout percentage than whites. opponents of the law
reporter: it s true. a lot of what we ll see decided at the court has roots in those things. the conversation about civil rights and who is equal under the law. with the same sex marriage we are expecting to get tomorrow or thursday. but all of those things have a common thread in talking about a couple things. civil rights issues. equality under the law and states rights. that s a big, big theme for a lot of the cases we have seen at the court. martha: shannon, thank you very much. bill: judge andrew napolitano. 1966, the formula was rational, practice and theory. coverage today is based on decade old data and eradicated practices. how does this change? the law in 1966 basically said if you are in certain counties in certain southern states, that all laws that