The
ruling, which will likely be appealed, could set up the next
voting rights battle at the U.S. Supreme Court.
The vast majority of Voting Rights Act cases are filed by
private parties. For instance, the case that prompted the
Supreme Court earlier this year to strike down Alabama's
congressional map was originally filed by a coalition of civil
rights groups.
Monday's decision upheld a 2022 ruling from U.S. District Judge
Lee Rudofsky, an Arkansas federal judge appointed by former
Republican President Donald Trump, that only the U.S. attorney
general is empowered to file lawsuits under section 2 of the
Voting Rights Act. That provision prohibits voting rules that
are racially discriminatory.
In a 2-1 decision, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals said the
text of the Voting Rights Act does not lay out a "private right
of action," even though courts including the Supreme Court have
taken on such cases for decades.
"Assuming their existence, and even discussing them, is
different from actually deciding that a private right of action
exists," Circuit Judge David Stras, writing for the majority,
said. Stras, a Trump appointee, was joined by Circuit Judge
Raymond Gruender, who was appointed by former Republican
President George W. Bush.
In a dissent, Chief Judge Lavenski Smith, also a Bush appointee,
said he would have followed existing precedent unless Congress
or the Supreme Court said otherwise.
Sophia Lin Lakin, the director of the American Civil Liberties
Union's voting rights project and a lawyer for the plaintiffs,
in a statement called the ruling a "travesty for democracy." The
plaintiffs said they were considering their legal options.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by David Gregorio and Mark
Porter)
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