Lassiter v. Northampton County Bd. of Elections
Encyclopedia
Lassiter v. Northampton County Board of Elections, 360 U.S. 45 (1959), was a case challenging the constitutionality of literacy tests, appealed from the Supreme Court of North Carolina.
, held in the that provided the tests were applied equally to all races, were not "merely a device to make racial discrimination easy", and did not "not contravene any restriction that Congress, acting pursuant to its constitutional powers, has imposed", then it could be an allowable use of the State's power to "determine the conditions under which the right of suffrage may be exercised".
Congress subsequently prohibited such tests with the National Voting Rights Act of 1965
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Ruling
The opinion of the court, delivered by Justice DouglasWilliam O. Douglas
William Orville Douglas was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. With a term lasting 36 years and 209 days, he is the longest-serving justice in the history of the Supreme Court...
, held in the that provided the tests were applied equally to all races, were not "merely a device to make racial discrimination easy", and did not "not contravene any restriction that Congress, acting pursuant to its constitutional powers, has imposed", then it could be an allowable use of the State's power to "determine the conditions under which the right of suffrage may be exercised".
Congress subsequently prohibited such tests with the National Voting Rights Act of 1965
Voting Rights Act
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of national legislation in the United States that outlawed discriminatory voting practices that had been responsible for the widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans in the U.S....
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