Speech #880190054

At least. I. for one. cannot ascribe to Congress the perpetration of such a useless act. The question of the constitutionality of literacy tests both on their face and in their application has been presented to the courts on several occasions. Rarely has the court held a States literacy test to determine the qualifications for voters to be unconstitutional on its face. On the contrary. literacy tests are recognized as a proper and constitutional vehicle for determining those who possess the qualifications necessary for the right of suffrage. A recent Supreme Court decision concerning the constitutionality of literacy tests was handed down in the case of Lassiter v. North Hampton County Board of Elections. 360 U.S. 45. This decision was rendered in 1959 and follows an unbroken line of precedents. In the Lassiter case. a Negro brought suit challenging the constitutionality of the North Carolina literacy test. In affirming the decision of the lower court upholding the constitutionality of the test. the court said: Literacy and illiteracy are neutral on race. creed. color. and sex. as reports around the world show. No better characterization of the general overall applicability of literacy tests can be found. The Court has. indeed. in this phrase gone to the crux of the matter. and provided an adequate answer for the skeptics who view the literacy test as just a sham used to disenfranchise certain classes of otherwise qualified voters. Other cases which have upheld literacy tests as against charges of unconstitutionality are: Williams v. Mississippi. 170 U.S. 213. Trudeau v.