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Page Number: 24

20 

SHELBY COUNTY v. HOLDER 

Opinion of the Court 

the  Voting  Rights  Act  of  1965  must  be  judged  with  refer-
ence to the historical experience which it reflects.”).

But  history  did  not  end  in  1965.    By  the  time  the  Act 
was reauthorized in 2006, there had been 40 more years of 
it.  In  assessing  the  “current  need[ ]”  for  a  preclearance 
system  that  treats  States  differently  from  one  another
today,  that  history  cannot  be  ignored.    During  that  time, 
largely because of the Voting Rights Act, voting tests were
abolished,  disparities  in  voter  registration  and  turnout
due  to  race  were  erased,  and  African-Americans  attained 
political  office  in  record  numbers.    And  yet  the  coverage
formula that Congress reauthorized in 2006 ignores these 
developments,  keeping  the  focus  on  decades-old  data  rel-
evant  to  decades-old  problems,  rather  than  current  data
reflecting current needs. 

The  Fifteenth  Amendment  commands  that  the  right  to
vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of race or
color,  and  it  gives  Congress  the  power  to  enforce  that
command.  The Amendment is not designed to punish for 
the past; its purpose is to ensure a better future.  See Rice 
v.  Cayetano,  528  U. S.  495,  512  (2000)  (“Consistent  with 
the design of the Constitution, the [Fifteenth] Amendment 
is  cast  in  fundamental  terms,  terms  transcending  the
particular  controversy  which  was  the  immediate  impetus
for its enactment.”).  To serve that purpose, Congress—if it
is to divide the States—must identify those jurisdictions to 
be  singled  out  on  a  basis  that  makes  sense  in  light  of 
current conditions.  It cannot rely simply on the past.  We 
made that clear in Northwest Austin, and we make it clear 
again today. 

C 

In defending the coverage formula, the Government, the 
intervenors, and the dissent also rely heavily on data from
the  record  that  they  claim  justify  disparate  coverage. 
Congress  compiled  thousands  of  pages  of  evidence  before