232
Opinion of Stevens, J.
this case. See Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 25-27.42
Congress has not only ratified Allen's construction of § 5 in subsequent reenactments, see H. R. Rep. No. 91-397, p. 8 (1970), but extended its logic to other provisions of the Act. Although § 2, like § 5, provides no right to sue on its face, "the existence of the private right of action under Section 2 . . . has been clearly intended by Congress since 1965." S. Rep. No. 97-417, at 30 (citing Allen); see also H. R. Rep. No. 97-227, p. 32 (1981). We, in turn, have entertained cases brought by private litigants to enforce § 2. See, e. g., Chisom v. Roemer, 501 U. S. 380 (1991); Johnson v. De Grandy, 512 U. S. 997 (1994). It would be anomalous, to say the least, to hold that both § 2 and § 5 are enforceable by private action but § 10 is not, when all lack the same express authorizing language.
Appellees argue that while § 5 creates substantive rights, § 10 merely directs the Attorney General to bring certain types of enforcement actions. Brief for Appellees 42-43. Exactly the same argument was made as to § 5 in Allen. But we held there that it was "unnecessary to reach the question" whether § 5 created new rights or only gave plaintiffs new remedies to enforce existing rights, for "[h]owever the Act is viewed, the inquiry remains whether the right or
42 Justice Thomas attempts to distinguish § 5 and § 10 by arguing that the former describes a "particular class of persons" to be benefited while the latter does not. See post, at 287. Justice Thomas has it backwards. Section 5 states generically that "no person shall be denied the right to vote" by unprecleared changes. With far greater specificity, § 10 states that poll taxes preclude "persons of limited means" from voting or impose unreasonable financial hardships on them and "in some areas ha[ve] the purpose or effect of denying persons the right to vote because of race or color." 42 U. S. C. § 1973h(a). It also declares that "the constitutional right of citizens to vote is denied or abridged in some areas by the requirement of the payment of a poll tax as a precondition to voting." Ibid. Section 10 was clearly designed to benefit a limited class of individuals.
Page: Index Previous 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007