Scholarship@WashULaw

Racially Polarized Voting and the Fifteenth Amendment

Document Type

Blog Posting

Language

English (en)

Publication Date

2020

Publication Title

Election Law Blog

Abstract

In yesterday’s post, I outlined how originalist Justices have conflated the Reconstruction Amendments and applied Fourteenth Amendment principles in Fifteenth Amendment cases. In today’s post, I challenge the application of colorblindness to the Fifteenth Amendment.

In recent years, the conservatives on the Court have questioned the legitimacy of anti-discrimination statutes that impose liability without a showing of discriminatory intent. According to the conservatives, discriminatory-effects standards unduly inject racial considerations into the decision-making process, raising constitutional concerns. This critique evolved from the colorblind view of the Equal Protection Clause and has now migrated to the voting rights realm.

Keywords

Fifteenth Amendment, Constitutional Law, Racially Polarized Voting, Voting Rights

Publication Citation

Travis Crum, Racially Polarized Voting and the Fifteenth Amendment, Election Law Blog (Jan. 30, 2020), https://electionlawblog.org/?p=109174

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