VRA Amendments and Shelby County v. Holder Supreme Court Case

Starter 13: Shelby v. Holder Intro:  Political Cartoon (5 min)
Based on this cartoon, work with your group to write down as many inferences as you can about the Supreme Court case Shelby v Holder.  Think carefully about what different elements of the cartoon are telling you!

Debrief, get predictions on the board.



Class Biz

• Just a friendly reminder that it is in your best interest to take solid notes and ensure complete comprehension of the concepts we're covering in class for next week's test-a-rooski!
• I will hopefully finish grading college essays by the end of this week(end).  I'm not allowing rewrites for a new grade BUT I am certainly happy to continue to help y'all refine your essays! Just schedule a conference with me as needed.
• Honors-- are you in or out?

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Today's Goals:

1. Understand Amendments to the VRA of 1965 and evaluate trends/patterns in those amendments over time.
2. Analyze the Supreme Court's ruling on Shelby County v. Holder in order to begin forming your opinion as to whether or not the VRA is still needed today.

AGENDA
​VRA Amendments (expert groups)  
Each of you is going to be assigned one amendment (there are 5 total).  In your expert group, read the summary of that amendment provided by Ashley.

In your group, you need to make sure that you are an expert (you will have to teach other students about this!).  EACH person in the group needs to make a small poster that includes the following:

1. Title (year of the amendment)
   1. What did this do to the special provisions?
   2. How did this amendment expand coverage?
   3. What new provisions (if any) did this amendment add?
2. For each of the points above, you should have a small and simple illustration that represents the main point of that piece of the amendment.
3. Make it pretty!  Make it clear!?
4. Make sure you understand and can explain these things clearly to other students!

VRA Amendments Jigsaw  

1. Get in a group that has one student from every amendment.
2. Put the posters together in chronological order
3. Each student presents their amendments
4. Now, as a group, identify at least 3 major patterns or trends that you see in these amendments.  How did they make the Act different from the original?  Summarize in your notes.

Shelby v. Holder:  The Basics (5-10 min)

1. Read these two  summaries of Shelby v. Holder
   1. Scotus Blog
   2. Civilrights.org
2. After reading the summaries, how accurate were your predictions?  What sections of the VRA did this Supreme Court decision leave intact?  What sections were declared unconstitutional?

Shelby v. Holder:  The Actual Arguments 
Okay, now it’s time to dig into the actual arguments put forth by the Supreme Court.  What was the reasoning of the majority?  And why did the minority dissent?

1. Here’s your main resource:  NY Times guide to the VRA Opinion
2. Here are your tasks:
   1. I will assign you a position:  majority or minority opinion
   2. For whichever opinion you are assigned, read that section (Majority:  Opinion of the Court and Concurring Opinion, Minority: Dissenting Opinion)
   3. Summarize the main arguments put forth in support of or against the decision (this can be a bullet pointed list)
   4. Write the most powerful quote from the justice’s opinion, and explain what it means, and why it is powerful.

Sharing Out Your Research
Get together with someone who had the other opinion.  Share notes--make sure you understand both arguments!  Now answer the following questions:

1. Which opinion, in your view, is most convincing?  Why?
2. Predict what changes, if any, happen as a result of Shelby v. Holder.

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