finding that broad language could include certain provisions if read without the benefit of context and background assumptions supplied by other statutory and Constitutional wording, by history, and by the manifestations of intent by Congress at the time of the statute's enactment and thereafter
How later courts described this case
- finding that broad language could include certain provisions if read without the benefit of context and background assumptions supplied by other statutory and Constitutional wording, by history, and by the manifestations of intent by Congress at the time of the statute's enactment and thereafter
- finding “no indication in Supreme Court precedent, or in logic, that the Congress and the legislatures that enacted and ratified the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments intended that they be ‘enforced’ in different ways”
- applying a clear-statement rule because of the history of felon-disenfranchisement provisions and concluding that "Congress unquestionably did not manifest an 'unmistakably clear' intent to include felon disenfranchisement laws under the VRA”
- stating that “from its inception and particularly through its amendment in 1982, Congress intended that § 2 ... be given the broadest possible reach”
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
STRAUB, Circuit Judge,
with whom Judge SACK joins,
concurring in part and concurring in judgment.
We concur in the result reached by the majority and in its reasoning that the evidence of legislative intent weighs decisively against applying the Voting Rights Act to New York Election Law § 5-106. We also, specifically, concur in the majority’s limited remand for purposes of determining whether plaintiffs have stated a vote dilution claim on behalf of non-disenfranchised residents, based on New York’s system of apportioning electoral districts. We do not join in any holding that a clear statement rule applies here, as we believe such a rule, in addition to being unnecessary to the disposition of this case, would be inappropriate in the voting rights context.