U.S. District Court Rejects Arkansas Redistricting Lawsuit on a Procedural Technicality

On February 17, U.S. District Court Judge Lee P. Rudofsky, a Trump appointee, rejected the Arkansas lawsuit that dealt with legislative redistricting. Arkansas State Conference of the NAACP v Arkansas Board of Apportionment, e.d., 4:21cv-1239. He determined that only the federal government can bring a lawsuit to enforce section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. This was a surprise, because attorneys for the state of Arkansas had not made this argument.

Judge Rudofsky invited the U.S. Justice Department to enter the case, but he said that must be done within five days. He also said that even if the Voting Rights Act can be enforced by private individuals or groups, he would not have struck down the state house district boundaries for the 2022 election, because that election is too close in time. Here is the opinion.


Comments

U.S. District Court Rejects Arkansas Redistricting Lawsuit on a Procedural Technicality — 4 Comments

  1. 15th Amdt, Sec 1 about INDIVIDUAL rights.

    Violation of rights >>> THEN civil [individual]+ Crim [govt] cases.

  2. The court ordered the parties to be prepared to argue the issue, so it can not be characterized as a “surprise”. The plaintiffs can appeal the question.

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