A federal appeals court ruled Monday that private entities cannot sue under a key provision of the landmark Voting Rights Act, setting the stage for a Supreme Court battle, possibly before next year’s presidential election. anus.
Three judges on the St. Louis-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled that only the Justice Department can bring cases using Section 2 of the 1965 law, which prohibits election practices or procedures that are intended or the effect of discriminating on the basis of race, color or membership in certain minority groups
For decades, ordinary citizens and civil rights groups used Section 2 to bring charges of discrimination by state and local election officials.
But in a 2-1 vote, the panel concluded that the law does not provide for a so-called “private right of action.”
The Voting Rights Act has appeared in several redistricting court cases across the country.AP
“For much of the last half century, courts have assumed that [Section 2] It is executable privately. A deeper look has revealed that this assumption is built on a flimsy foundation,” Circuit Judge David Stras, a Trump appointee, wrote in his majority opinion.
Stras was endorsed by Judge Raymond Gruender, a George W. Bush appointee, while Chief Circuit Judge Lavenski Smith, also a Bush appointee, dissented.
“Until the [Supreme] “If the court rules or Congress modifies the statute, I would follow existing precedent that allows citizens to seek judicial recourse,” Smith argued.
The Supreme Court recently upheld Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA
“Rights so fundamental to self-government and citizenship should not depend solely on the discretion or availability of government agents.”
It was a case brought by the Arkansas chapter of the NAACP and the Arkansas Public Policy Panel that challenged the state’s legislative districts, arguing that the map diluted the power of Arkansas’ black voters.
In February 2022, U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky, a Trump appointee, ruled that only the federal government could bring such cases, and Monday’s split decision upholds that ruling.
Any appeal could first be heard by the entire Eighth Circuit before heading to the Supreme Court.
Earlier this year, the high court sided with a coalition of civil rights groups and individual Alabama voters who used Section 2 to challenge that state’s congressional map, leading to the creation of a district additional black majority.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn