The Supreme Court has delivered another blow to the Voting Rights Act. The Court previously weakened the law’s protections with its infamous 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder. Now, in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, the justices have made it harder to bring lawsuits against discriminatory voting policies. “It’s the latest sign that if the voting rights of all Americans are to be defended, Congress, not the nation’s highest court, will have to provide that defense,” writes Sean Morales-Doyle. That means passing the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. // Washington Post

The New York City Board of Elections has a track record of failures, culminating with the recent accidental inclusion of 135,000 test ballots in a count for the mayoral primary race. The board’s problems are rooted in a lack of accountability, transparency, and professionalism. Joanna Zdanys and Hazel Millard offer solutions, ranging from an overhaul via state constitutional amendment to shorter-term changes. These include an open hiring process, better training, and stronger data transparency requirements. // Read More

Immigration policy was a major issue in the last election, and Joe Biden promised to reverse numerous anti-immigrant practices of the Trump administration. But America’s underlying immigration laws are still unduly harsh, leading to family separation and other needless suffering, argues UC Berkeley Law Professor Jennifer M. Chacón. The result is that for many immigrants, “the law is a threatening sword, not a protective shield.” In the latest entry in the our Punitive Excess series, Chacón makes the case for a more humane immigration system. // Read More

It’s understandable for police departments to post photos on social media to find fugitives, but using the tactic for low-level matters like parole violations is another story. “The person hasn’t been convicted,” Faiza Patel told the Los Angeles Times, adding that the online campaigns also “contribute to a culture of paranoia in this country. . . . Even when crime is way down, people perceive it’s higher.” // Los Angeles Times

In an interview about his new book with the Washington Post, Brennan Center Senior Fellow Theodore Johnson explains how effectively fighting racism in America benefits everyone, not just the victims of discrimination. “When race can be exploited to divide us, our government doesn’t have to be responsive to any of us,” he said. “All of us are cheated out of the benefits of citizenship and our own work when those in positions to address our problems successfully explain them away as the product of some other group’s actions. And while we’re bickering about intergroup relationships and who is responsible to fix what, we let government off the hook to structure our society in a way that benefits us all.” // Washington Post

• Michael Li on Republican redistricting efforts in the fast-growing suburbs of Georgia and Texas // MSNBC
• Harsha Panduranga on President Biden’s domestic terrorism plan // The World
• Eliza Sweren-Becker on state legislatures taking power away from election officials in favor of lawmakers // Bloomberg
• Michael Waldman on state voting restrictions after the Big Lie // NPR
• Dan Weiner on corporate America’s broken promise to not fund politicians who peddle the Big Lie // Associated Press
• Wendy Weiser on the impact of the Supreme Court’s latest voting rights decision // Associated Press
• Joanna Zdanys on the incompetence of New York City’s Board of Elections // Associated Press