Cobb case to decide who has authority over voting maps
Cobb County is conducting a very interesting lawsuit regarding who has the right to draw county electoral district maps. Also affected is the question of the constitutionality of change, bringing an early ending to an official’s duly elected term in office. The state legislature holds authority over maps for voting in statewide and national elections and has drawn maps for districts throughout Georgia. However, there is now a home rule provision in the state Constitution.
As (other) Georgia laws must be subordinate to our state Constitution, Georgia laws (including the Georgia Constitution) must be subordinate to the U.S. Constitution. Unconstitutional laws are not valid. Similarly, local ordinances, such as county voting district lines, must be subordinate to the state Constitution. Is the home rule provision unconstitutionally violating the overarching rights of the state?
Both sides here are calling the other politically partisan; the losers are “harmed.” However, the principles of law must be the basis for a legitimate decision, not the party labels “D” or “R.”
TOM STREETS, ATLANTA
Merit-based successes upend affirmative action
Am I the only person who finds it odd that successful Blacks and elite whites are the ones who join in viewing Blacks as inferior and unable to compete based on merit as opposed to skin color -- regardless of how many examples there are of Blacks’ merit-based success?
Successful columnist and commentator Eugene Robinson, “Here’s why colleges need affirmative action” (Opinion, July 9), keeps beating that drum by essentially calling for never-ending affirmative action. It’s disappointing when, instead of cheerleading Blacks and urging them to do the things, perform the work, etc., to excel based on merit, voices such as Robinson’s, a person who has proven success is possible, keep extolling the virtue of crutches rather than encouraging the exhilaration of sprinting.
Robinson and other Black dispiriting voices offer an adaptation of the young Augustine of Hippo’s prayer: “Lord grant me chastity and continence, just not yet.” Robinson and his like are saying, “Treat me as equal, just not yet.”
GREGORY MARSHALL, MARIETTA
