South Carolina v. Katzenbach Case Brief Summary | Law Case Explained

South Carolina v. Katzenbach | 383 U.S. 301 (1966)

In an effort to curtail voter discrimination, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The act imposed special restrictions on certain states and voting districts because of their history of disenfranchising African American voters. In the 1966 case of South Carolina versus Katzenbach, the United States Supreme Court considered whether those special restrictions were constitutional.

Before Congress passed the act, several states had employed literacy tests and other processes to qualify voters. These processes were specifically designed so that white citizens would qualify, but African Americans wouldn’t. As a result, voter registration rates among African American citizens were roughly 50 percent lower than registration rates among whites.

Section two of the act applies nationwide and broadly bans any law, standard, or practice that limits the ability to vote on account of race or color. For states and voting districts where discrimination was particularly severe, Congress enacted sections four and five. Section four, known as the coverage formula, determined which states and voting districts had the worst problems with racially discriminatory voting practices and subjected them to section five. Section five prohibited the problem states from adopting any changes in their voting laws, rules, standards, or processes without prior federal government approval. This was known as the preclearance provision. Section five also suspended the operation of voter qualification tests in the problem states. All or part of six states, including South Carolina, were initially subject to section five.

South Carolina sued United States Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach in a rare original action before the United States Supreme Court.

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