I have written this piece at Slate. It begins:
On Wednesday, the Voting Rights Act suffered the second shot in a brutal new one-two punch, and some worry it could lead to a knockout blow at the Supreme Court.
The Trump Department of Justice had already recently ended long-running bipartisan enforcement of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the part of the law that assures fair representation of minority voters in congressional, state, and local redistricting (among other things). Assistant attorney general for the civil rights division Harmeet Dhillon has signaled a pivot away from protecting minority voters and toward chasing phantom claims of voter fraud and pursuing other Trump-driven regressive election changes. These moves had already significantly hampered enforcement of the Voting Rights Act.
Now the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit has, for the second time, held that minority voters do not have the authority to sue states and localities directly themselves for Section 2 violations. It’s a ruling that unless overturned will effectively end Voting Rights Act enforcement in the seven states comprising the 8th Circuit. What’s worse, two Supreme Court justices already expressed agreement with the position of the 8th Circuit. If three more justices agree, Section 2 would be a dead letter throughout the United States, at least during Republican administrations….