On February 21, C-SPAN Radio continues a week-long special series of Supreme Court historic oral arguments previewing key pending cases on the taking of DNA samples from criminal suspects---“Maryland v. King”---and on the constitutionality of parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965---“Shelby County, Alabama v. Attorney General Eric Holder.”
In this program, a case cited in briefs for “Shelby County v. Holder.” From 2003: “The State of Georgia v. Attorney General John Ashcroft and others.” Following the 2000 census, the Democratic-controlled Georgia legislature passed a redistricting plan that was backed by many African-American leaders because it would have spread African-American voters and influence across several districts rather than concentrating them in a select few. Georgia's Republican governor objected to the plan because he said it violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which discourages the dilution of minority voting strength. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejected the legislature's plan. The U.S. Supreme Court later accepted the case.
The audio and information of the cases are courtesy of the Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law at: http://www.oyez.org.
“Georgia v. Ashcroft”, previewing a February 27 SCOTUS argument on the constitutionality of parts of the 1965 Voting Rights Act: Thursday, February 21 at 8pm ET on C-SPAN Radio: 90.1 FM in the Washington, DC area, online at cspanradio.org and nationwide on XM Satellite Radio, channel 119.