November 20, 2023      4:00 PM

Possibly setting up a Supreme Court battle, a federal appeals court strikes down key tool used to enforce Voting Rights Act

The latest via CNN:

A federal appeals court on Monday ruled against a key tool used to enforce the Voting Rights Act – possibly setting up another Supreme Court showdown over one of the nation’s landmark civil rights laws.

In a ruling that springs from an Arkansas redistricting case, the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that private entities cannot bring lawsuits under a provision of the law, known as Section 2.

In a 2-1 decision, the judges said the “text and structure” of the voting rights statute shows that Congress did not give private plaintiffs the authority to sue. The appellate panel affirmed a 2022 ruling by a Trump-appointed federal judge in Arkansas that held only the US Justice Department can bring Section 2 lawsuits.

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