Event Date
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Discussion of “An American Problem: How the Country Built - and the Supreme Court Broke - the Voting Rights Act”
Panel discussion with author Dr. Kevin T. Morris. Moderated by Dr. Chris Witko, UC Center Sacramento Executive Director.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 finally made good on the promise of the Fifteenth Amendment, which nearly a century before had granted Black Americans the right to vote. The Voting Rights Act was the crowning achievement of the Civil Rights Movement, which had battled for years against voting laws that made it all but impossible for Black Americans to cast a ballot. The act was a resounding success, bringing Americans of all races and ethnicities into the democratic process. And then, in 2013, the Supreme Court brought this progress to a screeching halt with their decision in Shelby County v. Holder. In this book, authors Michael Miller and Kevin Morris offer a sweeping history of the Voting Rights Act and the attacks it has suffered.
Panelists include:
- Dr. Matt Barreto, Professor of Political Science & Chicana/o and Central American Studies at UCLA. Dr. Barreto is co-founder of the research and polling firm BSP Research.
- Mr. Ethan Jones, Chief Consultant for the California Assembly Elections Committee, overseeing legislation on elections, redistricting, campaign finance, voting systems, and political reform laws.
- Professor Emeritus Brian Landsberg, McGeorge School of Law. Landsberg's teaching and research has covered a wide range of public law and advocacy topics, including Constitutional Law, First Amendment Law, Federal Courts, Federal Anti-discrimination Law, and Civil Rights Law.
- Dr. Kevin T. Morris, Senior Research Fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. His work includes voting rights, election administration, the criminal legal system, and the role of racial resentment in driving both voter suppression policy and public belief in election fraud.
- Dr. Mindy Romero, is a political sociologist and founder of the Center for Inclusive Democracy (CID). She currently serves as the director of CID.
- Dr. Chris Witko, Executive Director of the University of California Center Sacramento (UCCS). Witko’s research focuses on how policy shapes inequality and other economic outcomes, and how economic disparities shape the politics and the policy process.
Lunch will be served at 11:30am.
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