Letter: Protecting Voting Rights

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Re "Voting Rights Law Draws Skepticism From Justices" (front page, Feb. 28):

You report that the lawyer for Shelby County, Alabama, where I live, said at the Supreme Court on Wednesday that "the problem to which the Voting Rights Act was addressed is solved." I was at the Supreme Court and was surprised to hear that.

Born and raised in Alabama, I can assure you that Alabama is a poster child for why voters still need the protections from Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which Shelby County is now trying to gut for the whole nation.

There have been countless examples of politicians in Alabama trying to take away or diminish the right to vote for African-Americans.

In 2008, my city, Calera, Ala., tried to eliminate the only black councilman's district. The lines were redrawn so that the number of African-American voters was cut by more than half. Thanks to Section 5, the discriminatory plan was tossed out.

People who say individuals should instead have to scrape together large amounts of money to finance lawsuits under Section 2 of the law would pave the path to exclusion for Alabama's African-American voters all over again.

(Rev.)

HAROLD JONES
Calera, Ala., March 1, 2013

The writer, represented by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, is a defendant-intervenor in Shelby v. Holder, the case before the court.

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