Supreme Court weighs earthquake ruling

BBC -  The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday in a case that could dramatically reshape the electoral politics of the American south.

The court heard a challenge to a central pillar of the Voting Rights Act, which was originally designed to protect the electoral power of black Americans in the face of state-sanctioned discrimination.

Although the session was scheduled for only an hour, it stretched for more than twice as long, with the nine justices peppering lawyers in the case with questions.

Once the legal dust had settled, it appeared possible that a majority of the court was open to a substantial reinterpretation of the landmark civil rights era law.

If the challenge is successful, it could lead to the redrawing of congressional districts across the south that, by some estimates, could flip more than a dozen seats from Democratic to Republican.

Given the current narrow partisan divide in the US House of Representatives, such a ruling has the potential to give President Donald Trump's party a decisive advantage in retaining their majority in next year's midterm congressional elections.

According to UCLA law Professor Rick Hansen, it would reverse decades of court precedent and amount to an "earthquake in the American political system".