I'm confused about Shelby County v. Holder. [View all]

I am going to expose my ignorance here so please excuse my lack of knowledge on this issue.



The decision seems to be against disparate treatments of certain states (and other localities). I don't understand why this automatically means that preclearance can't be used. Why not simply eliminate the formula and the disparate treatment, which the Court has deemed unconstitutional, by requiring that all voting laws be precleared?


I understand that this could set up a 10th Amendment v. 15th Amendment fight but I think the 15th wins. The 10th reserves to the states all powers not specifically granted to the Federal Government. The 15th specifically grants to Congress the power to enforce anti-discrimination through legislation. The Voting Rights Act is that legislation and as of now only the formula which created the disparate treatment of states has been nullified. Section 2 of the VRA should still be enforceable and that outlaws any voting practice or procedure that has a discriminatory result.


Why not give the SCOTUS exactly what they asked for by applying preclearence to everyone? To me it seems to have more legal standing than not applying it to anyone. At the very least it would keep this subject in the news and force more court battles on the issue. It might even buy us enough time to have Congress come up with another formula to work with. Then again, as I stated at the outset, I am simply exposing my ignorance here. Thank you for your understanding and for any light you can shed on this subject for me.