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Abstract
| Argument: |
January 17-18, 1966
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| Decision: |
Monday, March 7, 1966 |
| Issues: |
Civil Rights, Voting Rights Act of 1965 |
| Categories: |
discrimination, judicial review, juveniles, separation of powers, voting |
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Advocates
| Archibald Cox |
(Argued the cause for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as amicus curiae, in support of the defendant) |
| Charles Clark |
(Argued the cause for the State of Mississippi, as amicus curiae, in support of the plaintiff) |
| Levin H. Campbell |
(Argued the cause for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as amicus curiae, in support of the defendant) |
| Richmond M. Flowers |
(Argued the cause for the State of Alabama, as amicus curiae, in support of the plaintiff) |
| Jack P. F. Gremillion |
(Argued the cause for the State of Louisiana, as amicus curiae, in support of the plaintiff) |
| Alan B. Handler |
(Argued the cause for the State of New Jersey, as amicus curiae, in support of the defendant) |
| Nicholas deB. Katzenbach, |
(Defendant, argued the cause pro se) |
| E. Freeman Leverett |
(Argued the cause for the State of Georgia, as amicus curiae, in support of the plaintiff) |
| Daniel R. McLeod |
(Argued the cause for the plaintiff) |
| Francis J. Mizell, Jr. |
(Argued the cause for the State of Alabama, as amicus curiae, in support of the plaintiff) |
| R. D. McIlwaine, III |
(Argued the cause for the Commonwealth of Virginia, as amicus curiae, in support of the plaintiff) |
| Joe T. Patterson |
(Argued the cause for the State of Mississippi, as amicus curiae, in support of the plaintiff) |
| David W. Robinson, II |
(Argued the cause for the plaintiff) |
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Facts of the Case
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prevented states from using a "test or device" (such as literacy tests) to deny citizens the right to vote. Federal examiners, under the Attorney General's jurisdiction, were empowered to intervene to investigate election irregularities.
Question
Did the Act violate the states' rights to implement and control elections?
Conclusion
The Court upheld the law. Noting that the enforcement clause of the Fifteenth Amendment gave Congress "full remedial powers" to prevent racial discrimination in voting, the Act was a "legitimate response" to the "insidious and pervasive evil" which had denied blacks the right to vote since the Fifteenth Amendment's adoption in 1870.
