Source Link
Excerpt:
On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocked a lower court ruling centered on provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
In a 6-3 decision, the justices stayed a ruling by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, which had sided against two American Indian tribes in an ongoing dispute over North Dakota’s state legislative map. The plaintiffs claimed that the state’s map “denied them an equal opportunity to elect their candidates of choice,” according to The Hill.
In its decision, the three-judge panel ruled (2-1) that private plaintiffs cannot “maintain a private right of action for alleged violations of § 2” of the VRA using federal civil rights laws. The ruling overturned a prior decision by the district court, which sided with the plaintiffs.
Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh — who handles emergency applications from the 8th Circuit — granted plaintiffs’ request on July 16 to place a temporary pause on the 8th Circuit’s order to provide the justices time to consider their request for relief.
According to Thursday’s SCOTUS order, the 8th Circuit’s decision is “stayed pending the filing and disposition of the petition for a writ of certiorari, if such writ is timely sought.” The stay will terminate if a potential petition from one of the parties to SCOTUS is denied by the high court or if SCOTUS agrees to take up the matter and hands down a final judgment in the case.
