Shelby County v. Holder

E15487

United States Supreme Court case constitutional law case voting rights case

Shelby County v. Holder is a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision that significantly weakened the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by striking down the formula used to determine which jurisdictions required federal preclearance for changes to their voting laws.

Aliases (2)

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States Supreme Court case → constitutional law case → voting rights case →
hasAreaOfLaw	civil rights law → election law → federalism →
hasArgumentDate	2013-02-27 →
hasChiefJusticeInMajority	John G. Roberts, Jr. →
hasCitation	570 U.S. 529 →
hasConstitutionalProvisionInvolved	Article I, Section 4 of the United States Constitution → Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution → Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution →
hasCountry	United States of America →
hasCourt	Supreme Court of the United States →
hasDecisionDate	2013-06-25 →
hasDissentingOpinionBy	Ruth Bader Ginsburg →
hasDocketNumber	No. 12-96 →
hasEffectOnStatute	invalidated the coverage formula in Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 → rendered Section 5 preclearance inoperative absent a new coverage formula →
hasHolding	Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional → coverage formula in Section 4(b) exceeds Congress’s power under the Constitution →
hasImpact	limited the practical operation of the Voting Rights Act’s preclearance regime → significantly weakened federal oversight of changes to state and local voting laws →
hasJusticeInDissent	Elena Kagan → Ruth Bader Ginsburg → Sonia Sotomayor → Stephen G. Breyer →
hasJusticeInMajority	Anthony M. Kennedy → Antonin Scalia → Clarence Thomas → Samuel A. Alito, Jr. →
hasKeyConcept	coverage formula → equal sovereignty of the states → preclearance →
hasLegalIssue	constitutionality of Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 → scope of Congress’s enforcement power under the Fifteenth Amendment →
hasLocationOfOriginatingJurisdiction	Shelby County, Alabama →
hasLowerCourt	United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit →
hasLowerCourtDecision	upheld the constitutionality of Sections 4(b) and 5 of the Voting Rights Act →
hasMajorityOpinionBy	John G. Roberts, Jr. →
hasPetitioner	Shelby County, Alabama →
hasRespondent	Eric H. Holder, Jr. → United States Attorney General →
hasSectionInvolved	Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 → Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 →
hasStatuteInvolved	Voting Rights Act of 1965 →
hasTerm	October Term 2012 →
hasVoteSplit	5–4 →
hasYearDecided	2013 →

Referenced by (17)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee → VRA → Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006 →	relatedCase
John G. Roberts Jr. → NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund →	notableCase
Clarence Thomas → Sonia Sotomayor ("Shelby County v. Holder (dissenting views on voting rights)") →	notableCaseInvolvement
Voting Rights Act of 1965 ("Shelby County v. Holder (2013)") →	affectedByCourtDecision
Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 →	constitutionalChallenge
October Term 2012 →	includesCase
Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment →	interpretedByCase
South Carolina v. Katzenbach →	isRelatedCase
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution →	keyCase
Voting Rights Act of 1965 →	landmarkCase
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund →	notableWork
Enforcement Clause →	usedInCase
Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 →	wasHeldUnconstitutionalInPartBy