It’s possible that he had a change of heart, but it’s more likely that his institutionalist side kicked in.
But as recently as last year, when Alabama sought a stay before the 2022 elections of the lower-court ruling the court just affirmed, Chief Justice Roberts suggested rethinking or tinkering with those precedents even as he opposed the stay.
Since Congress passed the Voting Rights Act in 1965 and amended it in 1982, the Supreme Court has repeatedly weighed in on its scope and meaning.
By 2013, however, the court held that Congress no longer had the power to require federal preapproval of voting changes.
In Shelby County, Chief Justice Roberts declared that “history did not end in 1965” and that considerable improvement in the South made continued federal oversight unconstitutional.
Persons:
Milligan, Justice Roberts, Kavanaugh, Justice Kavanaugh
Organizations:
Alabama, Supreme, statehouses
Locations:
Shelby County