…much of the argument for keeping [the Voting Rights Act] unreformed rests on the emotional resonance of the civil rights movement half a century ago and the alleged popularity of the law.  Nostalgia is a weak argument for any law, or so liberals usually tell me. As Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote in 2009: “Past success alone … is not adequate justification to retain the preclearance requirements.” And, popularity shouldn’t be an issue at all. The popularity of slavery was one reason the court could hand down an opinion such as Dred Scott.

President Obama (who twice carried Virginia) disagrees. If the preclearance requirement were stripped, he said, it “would be hard for us to catch those things up front to make sure that elections are done in an equitable way.” That’s true. But that logic basically amounts to turning the Civil Rights Division into a permanent department of pre-crime.

It’s true Congress keeps renewing the law (the last vote extends Section 5 until 2031), but one reason is that liberal politicians, journalists and activists are quick to demagogue anyone in favor of retiring it as being “anti-civil rights,” in much the same way any criticism of the Violence Against Women Act is instantly spun as support for wife-beating.