3 States, 3 Plaintiffs, and the Fight for Fair District Maps

At Liberty

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4.8 • 585 Ratings

🗓️ 15 February 2024

⏱️ 33 minutes

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Summary

Since 1965, the Voting Rights Act (VRA) has been integral to protecting people of color at the polls. But in recent decades, the strength of the VRA has been diminished by decisions like Shelby County v. Holder in 2013, and the subsequent influx of voter restrictions imposed by states. Despite this, there are ways we can fight back in the courts. Section 2 of the VRA prohibits voting practices and procedures that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or membership in certain language minority groups. It is the right of private individuals to challenge discriminatory voting practices and of organizations like the ACLU to support those who raise these challenges. But now, the right to bring these crucial cases before the courts is being threatened. On January 30, we received a decision from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals that it will not rehear Arkansas State Conference NAACP v. Arkansas Board of Apportionment, a case which challenges the Arkansas House district map for unlawfully stifling the voting strength of Black Arkansas residents. This decision upholds a 2022 lower court ruling in the case that radically concluded that voters may not sue to protect their voting rights under Section 2. This is unprecedented—more than 400 Section 2 cases have been litigated in federal court in the past four decades to protect the voting rights of racial and language minorities, and private plaintiffs have brought the vast majority of them. In today’s episode, you’ll hear from Barry Jefferson, Dorothy Nairne, and Khadidah Stone, three plaintiffs from Section 2 cases. They’ll discuss their experiences challenging racially gerrymandered district maps in their respective states, what compelled them to take action, and how we can all be voting rights advocates. To learn more about redistricting, the cases we mentioned in this episode, and the ACLU’s efforts to protect voting rights, click here: https://www.aclu.org/redistricting/redistricting-101#slide2

Transcript

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0:00.0	From the ACLU, this is at Liberty.
0:04.9	I'm Vanessa Handy, the show's producer, and I'm your host for this episode.
0:13.4	Since 1965, the Voting Rights Act has been integral to protecting people of color at the polls.
0:22.8	But in recent decades, the strength of the VRA has been diminished by decisions like Shelby County v. Holder in 2013
0:30.5	and the subsequent influx of voter restrictions imposed by states.
0:35.7	Despite this, there are ways we can fight back in the courts.
0:39.9	Section 2 of the VRA prohibits voting practices and procedures that discriminate on the basis
0:45.1	of race, color, or membership in certain language minority groups. It is the right of private
0:51.3	individuals like you and I to challenge discriminatory voting practices
0:55.5	and organizations like the ACLU to support those who raise these challenges.
1:00.8	But now, the right to bring these crucial cases before the courts is being threatened.
1:06.8	On January 30th, we received a decision from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals that it will not rehear Arkansas State Conference NAACP versus Arkansas Board of Apportionment, a case which challenges the 2021 Arkansas State House map for unlawfully stifling the voting strength of Black Arkansas residents.
1:31.8	This decision upholds a 2022 lower court ruling in the case that radically concluded voters may not sue to protect their voting rights under Section 2.
1:38.0	It's important to stress how unprecedented this is.
1:42.1	More than 400 Section 2 cases have been litigated in federal court in the past four decades
1:48.1	to protect the voting rights of racial and language minorities.
1:52.0	And private plaintiffs have brought the vast majority of them.
1:55.3	It is a disappointment.
1:57.1	It really hurt the precedence of this case, of many cases that our conference have filed to speak for the voiceless of not just people in Arkansas, but throughout this nation, injustice issues, special for voter rights.
2:11.6	That's Barry Jefferson. I am from the state of Arkansas. I am the state conference president for the end of ACP here in the state of Arkansas.
2:21.1	As a plaintiff in this case, Barry is leading the charge for his community to get equitable voting power.
2:27.5	And Barry is not alone.
	...

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