Category Archives: Voting Rights Act

A Catalog of Bonkers Voting Rights Act Claim That Could Gain Traction in the Next Few Years

February 18, 2022, 9:58 amVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

Seems worth starting a list: A catalog of bonkers Voting Rights Act theories that could get traction:1. No private right of action2. Doesn't apply to redistricting.3. VRA must be applied in a race neutral way.4. VRA is racist and violates… Continue reading

“We the People” Podcast from National Constitution Center: “Redistricting in Alabama and the Voting Rights Act”

February 18, 2022, 6:45 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

I participated in this podcast interview with NCC’s Jeffrey Rosen and Matthew Clark: Last week, the Supreme Court issued an order in a case about voting district maps in Alabama. After the 2020 census, Alabama drew new maps for 7… Continue reading

“Defenders of #SCOTUS’s shadow docket behavior (including Justice Alito), insist that the Court’s orders aren’t precedential. But here’s the judge hearing VRA challenges to Georgia’s redistricting suggesting that he’s “bound” to follow the unexplained stays in the Alabama cases”

February 17, 2022, 7:26 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Vladeck of course. Defenders of #SCOTUS's shadow docket behavior (including Justice Alito), insist that the Court's orders aren't precedential. But here's the judge hearing VRA challenges to *Georgia's* redistricting suggesting that he's "bound" to follow the unexplained stays… Continue reading

Must-Read Adam Serwer: “The Supreme Court Seems to Think Discrimination Is When You Try to Remedy Discrimination”

February 11, 2022, 11:33 amredistricting, Supreme Court, Uncategorized, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Adam Serwer for the Atlantic: I have a hard time believing that anyone sincerely thinks that drawing districts that limit the political influence of Black voters in a state where Black people comprise more than a quarter of the… Continue reading

“Opinion: More evidence the Supreme Court is hostile to the Voting Rights Act”

February 9, 2022, 7:08 amSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Jennifer Rubin WaPo column: It is hard to come to any other conclusion with this Supreme Court, after it destroyed Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act and crafted an entirely new set of rules for the VRA’s Section… Continue reading

“The Supreme Court Has Crossed the Rubicon”

February 9, 2022, 7:04 amredistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Linda Greenhouse NYT column: You know the Rubicon has been crossed when the Supreme Court issues a conservative voting rights order so at odds with settled precedent and without any sense of the moment that Chief Justice John Roberts feels… Continue reading

“Flood of Voting Laws Confront Rights Enforcers With Uphill Fight”

February 9, 2022, 6:49 amDepartment of Justice, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Bloomberg Law: The Justice Department’s voting section faces significant hurdles in challenging new state election laws and redrawn maps that Democrats say will suppress or dilute minority votes.The newly staffed-up section of the Civil Rights Division that’s already… Continue reading

Watch Video of Laura Coates Interview Derrick Johnson and Me at CNN on Supreme Court’s Stay in Alabama Voting Rights Redistricting Case

February 8, 2022, 8:35 pmredistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Watch here:

“The grim fate of the Voting Rights Act in the hands of the Supreme Court”

February 8, 2022, 4:50 pmSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Nick Stephanopoulos WaPo oped: Will anything be left of the Voting Rights Act after the Supreme Court finishes with it? It’s looking pretty grim. In 2013, the Supreme Court dismantled the part of the law that required states… Continue reading

“The Supreme Court may completely hollow out the Voting Rights Act by 2024”

February 8, 2022, 2:04 pmSupreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Joan Biskupic CNN analysis.

Breaking and Analysis: Supreme Court on 5-4 Vote Stays District Court Order Requiring Alabama to Draw Second Black Majority District, and the Signs for the Voting Rights Act are Ominous

February 7, 2022, 3:38 pmredistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

The Supreme Court issued a stay in the Alabama congressional Voting Rights Act case I wrote about last week and set the case (actually two related cases) for argument. This is bad news in the short run and likely worse… Continue reading

Alabama, in Its Stay Application Before the Supreme Court, Asks the Conservative Court to Cut Back the Scope of Voting Rights Act in Redistricting Cases, With Potentially Major Voting Rights Implications

February 3, 2022, 1:43 pmredistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

I have now had a chance to review Alabama’s request for stays in 2 related cases (21A375 and 21A376). This post is going to get wonky and technical, so let me begin with the bottom line: if and… Continue reading

“Ga. Judge Won’t Toss Black Voters’ Redistricting Challenge”

January 29, 2022, 7:22 amVoting Rights ActRick Hasen

Law360: A Georgia federal judge rejected on Friday Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s attempt to dismiss a lawsuit by Black voters and civil rights organizations challenging Georgia’s new redistricting maps for allegedly diluting Black voting power.U.S. District Judge Steve C.… Continue reading

Breaking: Alabama Seeks Supreme Court Order Blocking Requirement for State to Create Second Black Majority Congressional District, Queueing Up First Major Test of Voting Rights Act in New Decade of Redistricting

January 28, 2022, 1:38 pmredistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

You can find the application at this link. The Supreme Court is likely to first grant a brief administrative stay while it decides what to do on the stay application. It would not be surprising to see the Court set… Continue reading