Category Archives: Voting Rights Act

Breaking: Eighth Circuit, on 2-1 Vote, Holds Private Plaintiffs Cannot Enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act through a Section 1983 Action, a Ruling Which if Applied Nationally Would Devastate Voting Rights Act Enforcement in the United States

The Eighth Circuit had earlier reached the remarkably wrong conclusion that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act contains no private right of action (meaning that only the U.S. Department of Justice, and not private plaintiffs, can sue for violations… Continue reading

“Hispanic and Latino Voters’ Declining Political Cohesion: A Thorn in the Side of Thornburg v. Gingles’s Framework for Evaluating Claims Under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act”

Jacob Maguire has posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This paper argues that, based on recent electoral trends, the United States’ Hispanic and Latino community may no longer constitute a “politically cohesive” minority group under the U.S.… Continue reading

Breaking: Three-Judge District Court Finds Alabama’s Congressional Redistricting Plan Intentionally Discriminated Against Black Voters **Updated**

The court’s 571-page opinion is here. This decision is on remand from the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in Allen v. Milligan. This is the latest decision in the long-running Section 2 litigation against Alabama’s congressional redistricting plans. Back in… Continue reading

The Yale Journal Has Just Published My New Feature Article: “The Stagnation, Retrogression, and Potential Pro-Voter Transformation of U.S. Election Law”

I am delighted that the Yale Law Journal has published my new Feature, The Stagnation, Retrogression, and Potential Pro-Voter Transformation of U.S. Election Law, 134 Yale L.J. 1673 (2025). I consider this among the most important work I’ve… Continue reading