The U.S. Supreme Court sidestepped a constitutional ruling Monday when the panel chose to uphold a core section of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In an 8-1 decision, with only African-American justice Clarence Thomas dissenting, the court left in place Section 5 of the Act, which requires many Southern state and local jurisdictions, deemed racist when the law was adopted, to apply for federal permission to make changes to voting districts.
A small Texas voting precinct, Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1, challenged the constitutionality of the act, arguing that racial inequality in the country as a whole had changed substantially since the creation of the law. While the court upheld the provision, they ruled that districts may be able to “bail out” of federal oversight.
This ruling has significance for local jurisdictions such as St. Martinville, which was prevented from holding elections for over a decade in the 1990s while attempting to satisfy Justice Department watchers as the town went through redistricting. Whether Louisiana governments will attempt to opt out of the federal coverage is yet to be seen. The ruling opens the door to addressing the larger issue of racial parity and whether the federal government still has a need to protect minority voting rights, nearly 30 years after declaring segregation illegal.
There will soon be a whole lot of shakin’ going on at Benny’s Sportshack Supplement Depot, a new concept by Opelousas native Benny Nele. Located at 2002 Johnston St., the supplement shop, smoothie bar and café, featuring hot off the press paninis and wraps, plans to open in late May.
Philip deMahy Sr., a once respected New Iberia ad exec, was sentenced May 2 to spend the next two years (he faced up to 100 years) in a state penitentiary after state and federal investigators found dozens of images depicting children engaged in lewd sexual acts on his personal computer.
This year’s Cool Town issue is all about people who are not native to South Louisiana but made a conscious decision to be here, to be among us, to participate in our culture and contribute to it.
A shelved ordinance transferring $200,000 from a northside drainage project to a south Lafayette development may not break any laws, but it stinks to high heaven.
An effort to restore a shuttered dancehall and document other vacant or razed honky-tonks could serve as a model for saving an endangered species of entertainment.
Lafayette’s gene pool has been host to a long line of eccentric characters who have blurred the lines between crazy, genius, disturbed and curiously entertaining.
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