(Image source: Wikimedia Commons ) BY ALEX MALLIN ANCHOR JAMAL ANDRESS Just seven years after the renewal of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Supreme Court is hearing arguments to repeal important sections of one of the nation’s most significant Civil Rights measures. The lawsuit was brought about by prosecutors from Shelby County in Alabama. “If you are imposing less sovereignty on some states than others, you’re putting current burdens on these governments you’ve got to have a current justification for it.” ( Video via Al Jazeera ) If approved by the court, it would effectively repeal a section of the act meant to target states that have a significant past of discrimination against minorities, that says they must consult the U.S. Justice Department before implementing any new type of election law. The law would then, in effect, have to be rewritten. The controversy ignited protesters, including some veteran civil rights activists, to flood the capitol. The general sentiment among the marchers was that the law would be a step in the wrong direction for a country that has made significant strides in civil rights. ( Via The Guardian ) This included John Lewis, the last living organizer from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Freedom March in 1963. ( Video via Al Jazeera ) “We’re not going back. We’ve come too far, and made too much progress to go back.” ( Via NBC News ) And with a poetic irony that one could only expect from Washington, right across the street America’s first black president was unveiling a statue of one of America’s most prominent Civil Rights Activists, Rosa Parks. ( Via The New York Times ) The support was divided along party lines in the Supreme Court. Democrats like Sonia Sotomayor said the law was made for counties like Shelby because of their controversial history. But right-leaning judges like Antonin Scalia seemed to support repeal. Saying the section is outdated, and functions in today’s society as a “ perpetuation of racial entitlement. ” While some have argued that the aim of the measure is to enact redistricting and voter-ID laws in a way that favors Republican votes, Chief Justice John Roberts noted that southern states seemed to be unfairly singled out. He said left-leaning Massachusetts is actually the worst in terms of African American voter turnout to white voter turnout in the country. The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the decision before July.