Shelby County v. Holder: A Case Study of the Supreme Court Decision that Shaped Voting Rights in the United States of America
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Date
2022-05
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Publisher
The Ohio State University
Abstract
This paper will analyze if the Supreme Court of the United States' decision in Shelby v.
Holder was incorrect because the legal conclusions relied on inaccurate data. It will outline the
context of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, why it was such monumental legislation, and its impact.
Then, the paper will analyze the Shelby v. Holder case, creating a legal brief to fully understand
the context of the Supreme Court decision. Once the Court's majority and minority reasoning is
detailed, the paper will outline different critiques of the decision, ranging from the metrics the
majority relied on and the main empirical assumption that voting discrimination no longer
existed at the same levels that it did in 1965.
The paper will then discuss how Shelby v. Holder is interesting not only for its impact on
voting rights in the United States, but because it is also an important case study on how the
Supreme Court of the United States fails to use social science correctly. This discussion will
raise important questions about the capacity of SCOTUS to make similar decisions in the future.
Finally, the paper will analyze the applications of this decision.