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JEFFREY BROWN:The nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court pondered a central piece of civil rights legislation today, at issue, whether it's still needed 48 years after it first became law.
REP. JOHN LEWIS, D-Ga.: We are not there yet.
JEFFREY BROWN:Georgia Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis was one of many who rallied outside the court this morning for the Voting Rights Act. They were there on a day the justices heard a challenge to a key section of the law. It requires states with a history of discrimination, mainly in the Deep South, to get federal approval, or pre- clearance, before changing voting procedures or districts.
Lewis argued that the provision known as Section 5 must be preserved.
JOHN LEWIS:There are still forces in this country that want to take us back to another period, but we're not going back. We have come too far. We have made too much progress to go back.
The literacy test may be gone, but people are using other means, other tactics and techniques. So we still need Section 5, and that's why we are here today standing up for the voting rights of all Americans.
JEFFREY BROWN:In 1965, Lewis helped lead 600 people across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., where police beat them with nightsticks and state troopers fired tear gas. The event became known as Bloody Sunday and proved a tipping point.
President Lyndon Johnson and Congress responded with the Voting Rights Act. Lawmakers have renewed the law ever since, most recently in 2006, with overwhelming support. But Shelby County, Ala. says the law has outlived its time. Frank Ellis is the county attorney.
FRANK ELLIS, Shelby County Attorney: And we ask for some recognition that we and these other covered jurisdictions have made great strides over the last 48 years.
I was 24 years old. I have been the county attorney since 1964. I was 24 years old when we came under Section 5. I'm 73 last weekend, and we're still under the same formula, none of which has applied to us in many, many, many, many years.
JEFFREY BROWN:President Obama has recently voiced support for upholding the provision of the Voting Rights Act. He said that if part of the law is struck down, it will be harder to prevent acts of voting discrimination.
The case provoked some tough questioning at the court today.
And, of course, Marcia Coyle of the National Law Journal was there and she is back with us tonight.
So, Marcia, tell us first a little bit about the challenge from Shelby County. Why this particular county? What's their argument?
MARCIA COYLE,National Law Journal: OK.
Well, this case actually was teed up by an organization here in Washington, D.C., known as the Project for Fair Representation. The organization's goal is to eliminate racial and ethnic preferences. The head of the organization looks for clients to bring lawsuits targeting racial or ethnic preferences.
It found Shelby County. The organization also finds a lawyer. It found Bert Rein, a well-known, well-respected lawyer here in Washington, D.C. And it funds the litigation. Shelby County agreed to do it, challenged Section 5. They went through the lower courts in May. A three-judge panel of the federal appellate court here in Washington upheld the law 2-1.
