Race in Redistricting

Video – The Voting Rights Act 50 Yrs. Later

By EditorJan 11, 2016

Wash. DC: Professors Julian Zelizer and Orville Vernon Burton talked about the factors that led to the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and challenges to voter’s rights after the Supreme Court invalidated part of the act in 2013.

Redistricting Race Rulesfeatured

NCSL Covers the Evolution of the Voting Rights Act

By EditorSep 28, 2015

Is the Voting Rights still relevant in 2015? How has it changed voting since 1965? How has it been transformed along the way? Is it still an effective shield against state laws that hinder minority voting? (more…)

Redistricting, Redistricting Race Rulesfeatured, national, U.S.

Supreme Court Looks Past Weak Pleadings to Find Potential Racial Gerrymander in Alabama Map

By EditorApr 14, 2015

The Supreme Court’s recent opinion remanding a challenge by Black state officials to the 2012 Alabama Legislative district map back to a federal district court is relatively short for a majority opinion but chock full of legal nuggets as the justices’ focused on several bases for returning this case back to a lower court to reconsider its ruling against the plaintiffs. In all, the decision discussed four distinct issues; two procedural and two substantive – it felt the lower court bungled. If we had to explain the four corners of the Alabama opinion in one sentence it would be; The…

NEWS, Racial Gerrymandering, Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanders, Redistricting Litigation, Redistricting Race RulesAlabama, black caucus, lawid

UMass Lowell to Mark 50th Anniversary of Voting Rights Act

By EditorMar 09, 2015

Contacts for media: Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu LOWELL, Mass. – Fifty years ago this month, civil rights activists engaged in three historic marches from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., with the goal of demonstrating that black Americans wanted to exercise their constitutional right to vote. The marches were watershed moments in the nation’s struggle for civil rights in the 1960s. The first march was interrupted by a violent confrontation between activists and police. A second attempt led by Martin Luther King Jr. was also unsuccessful and that same day, a black minister from Boston was…

Redistricting Race Rulesevents, Massachusetts

ACLU Seeking Millions in Yakima Voting Rights Lawsuit

By EditorMar 04, 2015

The city of Yakima lost a voting rights lawsuit against its at-large city council elections. Now the ACLU, which filed the lawsuit - wants court costs and attorneys fees. The group is asking for $2.8 million in its court filing.

Redistricting Race RulesACLU, Yakima Washington

Alabama Law Review Symposium: 50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act

By EditorFeb 24, 2015

Tuscaloosa, Alabama - February 27 8:00am -5:00pm The University of Alabama School of Law is pleased to announce the presenters for the Alabama Law Review’s Voting Rights Act Symposium. Join us as the nation’s foremost experts on the Voting Rights Act commemorate the 50th Anniversary of this historic enactment. The symposium is 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27 in the Bedsole Moot Court Room (140). Keynote Speaker The Honorable Myron H. Thompson, Senior U.S. District Judge Presenters Jack Bass, author of Taming the Storm Guy-Uriel Charles, Duke University School of Law Kareem Crayton, University of North Carolina School of Law…

Redistricting Race Rules

VRA at 50: March 4th at Ohio State Univ. Moritz College of Law

By EditorFeb 24, 2015

Ohio - On March 4, two experts will address the history, legacy, and future of the Voting Rights Act in events presented by The Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio, and the Kirwan Institute. Pam Karlan, deputy assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice Thomas E. Perez, Secrtary of Labor, former Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the U. S. Department of Justice Click here for more info and registration

Redistricting Race RulesMoritz College of Law, Pam Karlan, Thomas Perez

Meet The Press Tackles the Voting Rights Act Amendment

By EditorFeb 24, 2015

Its been over 18 months since the Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, can Republicans and Democrats bridge the divide on the Voting Rights Act Amendment (VRAA) in Congress? Meet the Press sat down with Sherrilyn Ifill (NAACP-LDEF) and Rep. Charlie Dent R-Pa) last weekend to discuss the possibilities.

Redistricting, Redistricting Race RulesMeet the Press, VRA

Jesse Jackson Calls Shelby Decision a “Game Changer”

By EditorFeb 18, 2015

In this interview with AL.com (Alabama) Rev. Jesse Jackson voices his concerns about media coverage - or lack thereof, on the Supreme Court's Shelby County decision. Calling it a "game-changer," Jackson says it is already leading to re-segregation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWc8fhL8DHo

Redistricting Race RulesAlabama, Jesse Jackson

Case Filing: Missouri NAACP v. Ferguson-Florissant School District et. al.

By EditorFeb 06, 2015

Missouri - Plaintiffs content in this lawsuit filed in December that African-American voters in Ferguson-Florissant are denied the ability to elect candidates of their choice to the local school board because of the existing at-large voting system. "Despite the fact that African Americans are almost half of the School District’s population and are a substantial majority of its students, there has never been adequate representation of African Americans on the Board. At present, the Board has only one African-American member." They claim that under section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, that the at-large method of voting dilutes minority voting power…

Casedocs, Redistricting Race RulesCommissioners court, Dallas County, Harding, Texas