One year after a landmark constitutional decision on the nation’s new federal health care law, the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 took historic steps in two civil rights cases that will define the Roberts Court for some time to come.
Believing that national opinion on gay marriage was moving in their direction, civil rights groups optimistically awaited the justices’ rulings in two same-sex marriage cases on the October 2012 docket. However, they viewed a major challenge to the Voting Rights Act with considerable anxiety because of the Roberts Court’s existing precedents on race and voting rights. Their feelings were justified on both counts.
