After Shelby County: The Future of the Voting Rights Act

The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Shelby County v. Holder invalidated a key part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, considered by many to be the most effective civil rights law in our nation’s history.  Julie Fernandes, Senior Policy Analyst at the Open Society Foundations and former Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice, discusses the practical implications of the Court’s decision as well as potential legislative steps being pursued in the aftermath of the decision.