ABA Journal
"The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at St. Louis ruled Monday that private plaintiffs cannot sue for alleged violations of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which bans voting practices and procedures that deny or abridge the right to vote on the basis of race or color.
The “catastrophic” 2-1 decision would allow the U.S. attorney general, but not private groups, to sue under Section 2, according to Democracy Docket, a publication founded by lawyer and Clinton campaign general counsel Marc Elias.
The appellate ruling upholds a decision by U.S. District Judge Lee P. Rudofsky of the Eastern District of Arkansas.
Politico reports that if the ruling stands, “it would mark a dramatic rollback of the enforcement of the law that led to increased minority power and representation in American politics.”
Other publications with coverage include Bloomberg Law, the New York Times, the Election Law Blog (here and here) and NPR.
Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Project, had argued the 8th Circuit appeal on behalf of the plaintiffs, the Arkansas State Conference of the NAACP and the Arkansas Public Policy Panel. They were challenging a redistricting plan for the Arkansas House of Representatives.
“This ruling is a travesty for democracy,” Lakin said in an ACLU press release. “For generations, private individuals have brought cases under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act to protect their right to vote.”
No court had denied plaintiffs the ability to sue in federal court—until rulings in this case, she said."
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