Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty
Late last week, the state of Alabama appeared to defy the United States Supreme Court by refusing to redraw its congressional districts as ordered by the Court.
The immediate aftermath of Alabama’s conduct has been predictable: continued litigation, political grandstanding, and revisiting that state’s history of racial discrimination at the ballot box. But the significance of what is happening in Alabama goes beyond redistricting and voting rights: it represents an extremely dangerous step away from American democracy.
In 1870, the United States ratified the 15th Amendment, which says that the right of citizens to vote “shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”