[ti:Supreme Court Rules on Three Major Rights Issues]
[ar:Steve Ember]
[al:In the News]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, this is In the News.
[00:08.93]The United States Supreme Court 
[00:12.09]made decisions on three major rights cases this week.
[00:17.98]On Monday the court released a decision on 
[00:22.16]education policy for minorities. 
[00:25.70]But, the high court chose not to give a final ruling 
[00:30.53]on the policy known as affirmative action.
[00:34.09]The case involves a young white woman, Abigail Fisher, 
[00:39.40]who was rejected by the University of Texas. 
[00:43.21]Her lawyers argued that universities 
[00:47.28]should not be permitted to consider race 
[00:51.14]when trying to accept a diverse class of students. 
[00:55.64]They said that considering someone's race 
[00:59.58]in the admissions process violates 
[01:02.55]their constitutional right 
[01:08.14]to equal protection under the law.
[01:12.58]Seven of the nine justices voted 
[01:16.28]to return the case to a lower court saying 
[01:20.83]it had not fully studied the university's actions.
[01:24.82]Opponents praised the Supreme Court 
[01:27.18]for ordering the lower court 
[01:31.25]to enforce a narrower version of the school's 
[01:33.25]affirmative action plan. 
[01:37.59]Civil rights activists welcomed the decision 
[01:41.33]because it did not cancel the policy.
[01:44.87]On Tuesday, the Supreme Court 
[01:50.31]did cancel a part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 
[01:55.72]Congress passed the law to ensure that African Americans 
[01:58.54]in southern states could vote. 
[02:04.13]The court decision ends federal supervision of election laws 
[02:07.99]in states with a history of voter suppression.
[02:11.99]The law was aimed at nine states 
[02:17.04]and some cities and counties in seven other states. 
[02:21.98]These states were required to seek approval 
[02:25.48]from the Justice Department to make changes 
[02:27.67]to their election laws. 
[02:32.37]Congress has repeatedly extended the law, 
[02:36.15]most recently in 2006.
[02:42.04]A divided court ruled by a vote of five to four. 
[02:44.77]In the majority opinion, 
[02:47.61]Chief Justice John Roberts wrote 
[02:50.04]that widespread violation 
[02:54.43]of the rights of black voters no longer exists. 
[03:00.05]The majority ruled that the method used to decide 
[03:04.12]which areas require federal supervision 
[03:06.89]violates the rights of states. 
[03:12.52]It said Congress must decide on a better method.
[03:16.29]Several states announced they would begin 
[03:18.61]new voting requirements 
[03:21.76]that had been blocked by the Justice Department 
[03:23.64]soon after the ruling.
[03:30.39]Cherilyn Infill is with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
[03:32.37]"Make no mistake about what has happened."
[03:35.04]Speaking to a crowd near the court, 
[03:39.09]she said the court has decided that it stands 
[03:41.59]in a better position than Congress 
[03:46.25]to determine how to protect against voting discrimination.
[03:48.88]"The 15th amendment to the constitution makes clear 
[03:50.59]that it is Congress that has that power."
[03:51.19]On Wednesday morning, 
[03:52.68]a different crowd waited outside the court building. 
[03:56.78]Supporters of same-sex marriage cheered 
[04:00.77]when the Supreme Court canceled a federal 
[04:04.39]and a state law on the issue.
[04:07.12]The court said the 1996 federal law 
[04:11.73]called the Defense of Marriage Act 
[04:15.10]violated the rights of same-sex couples. 
[04:19.04]The court said that the government could not prevent 
[04:23.61]same-sex couples from getting the same tax, 
[04:28.07]health and retirement benefits 
[04:30.90]as traditional husbands and wives. 
[04:33.75]Supporters of the laws promised to continue efforts 
[04:38.92]to limit marriage to legal unions of one man and one woman.
[04:45.29]And that's In the News from VOA Learning English. 
[04:51.37]I'm Steve Ember.