Last month, two Republican federal appeals court judges effectively abolished the law banning race discrimination in elections in seven states. On Thursday, the Supreme Court issued a brief order blocking this decision. The upshot is that, at least for now, it is still illegal for a state to disenfranchise someone because of the color of their skin.

That said, the most striking thing about the Court’s decision in Turtle Mountain Band v. Howe is that three justices dissented. Although none of them explained why they voted the way they did, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch all voted to leave in place a lower court decision that effectively nullified one of the most consequential civil rights laws in American history.

Although the

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