A reversal of fortune

By Dr. E. Faye Williams
TriceEdneyWire.com Columnist

I’ve been left to wonder which hurts more. Does it hurt more to have a disappointment occur without expectation or does it hurt more to be able to anticipate a disappointment and see it materialize? I’ve come to the realization that when it relates to the U.S. justice system, a disavowal of patterns and practices that’ve served to protect the integrity of the process and broadly protect the rights of citizenship hurts whether anticipated or not.

My great disappointment in the Justice System came on June 25, 2013, in the Shelby County v. Holder decision. The Supreme Court struck down Section 4 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act which invalidated the “Pre-clearance” requirements of Section 5. Progressive observers predicted a retrenchment of extra-legal policies that served to suppress the voting rights of non-whites who are likely pro-Democratic voters. Events since that decision have proven the progressive prediction correct. The pre-1965 experience of a segment of society rendered powerless because of an inability to vote looms large as a future possibility, as well.

Laws passed in a significant number of states since 2013 have served to restrict voting rights and have, when contested, earned the condemnation of judges who’ve seen through the subterfuge and determined that these laws are no more than vehicles targeting the voting rights of minorities. Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell’s adamant refusal to perform his constitutionally mandated responsibilities of conducting the confirmation process of Judge Merrick Garland signaled a commitment by Republicans to obliterate the changes to social justice achieved in the past 50 years.

My next disappointment in the Justice System came on February 9, 2017 when Jefferson B. Sessions assumed the office of Attorney General of the U.S. Although initially giving a broadly-general statement of understanding his job of assuring justice under-the-law to all citizens, his subsequent actions seem more like rationalizations of the White Citizens’ Council. Sessions’ most recent and egregious act is his refusal to implement already-established consent