Conservative Supreme Court justices continued to express strong reservations today about Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, suggesting a key provision of the law -- Section 5 -- might be in danger.

That section of the law says that certain states, mostly in the South, must get any changes to voting regulations precleared by federal officials in Washington, D.C. RELATED: Challenge to the Voting Rights Act Reaches

U.S. Supreme Court justices suggested they may cut back the 1965 Voting Rights Act, saying Congress was using an outdated formula to decide which states must comply with a core provision of the landmark law.
Hearing arguments today in Washington, the courts Republican-appointed justices expressed skepticism about the laws requirement that all or parts of 16 states get federal clearance before changing their voting rules. The courts Democratic appointees voiced support for the law.

A key provision in one of the U.S.s best known civil rights laws, the Voting Rights Act, received a highly skeptical and sometimes downright hostile response from the conservative justices at the Supreme Court Wednesday.
During contentious oral arguments, several liberal justices argued vigorously in favor of preserving a portion of the 1965 law which requires parts or all of 16 states to get permission from the Justice Department or a court before changing voting requirements or redrawing election districts