Read, Watch or Listen

WASHINGTON. The Supreme Court on Monday set aside appeals-court rulings and sent two cases involving Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act back to lower courts, ordering further consideration of whether private individuals and advocacy groups can sue to challenge state legislative maps drawn after the 2020 Census. In the North Dakota case, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled that only the federal government can sue to enforce Section 2; the Supreme Court previously blocked that ruling in July, allowing the Native American tribes’ preferred maps to remain temporarily in place while the case proceeds. WASHINGTON. The action also affects a separate Mississippi challenge where similar reasoning had been cited, and the high court returned that appeal for reconsideration. Advocacy groups, which bring most Section 2 lawsuits, remain central to enforcement questions that the lower courts will now reassess. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, writing that both rulings should have been reversed. The decision follows the court’s April ruling that narrowed Section 2 claims by requiring proof of intentional discrimination, a ruling that has already diluted the Voting Rights Act’s enforcement power and made future cases harder to win.

Prepared by Lauren Mitchell and reviewed by editorial team.