Eric Holder Statement on Merrill v. Milligan Oral Argument
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Brooke Lillard
lillard@redistrictingfoundation.org
Eric Holder Statement on Merrill v. Milligan Oral Argument
Washington, D.C. —Today, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear oral argument for Merrill v. Milligan, a redistricting lawsuit originally filed by Alabama voters with the support of the National Redistricting Foundation (NRF), the 501(c)(3) affiliate of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, after the state legislature enacted a discriminatory congressional map.
In this case, the Supreme Court will determine the future of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) as applied to redistricting, and will consider whether to uphold or reverse a lower court decision striking down Alabama’s discriminatory congressional map as a likely violation of the VRA due to the state’s failure to provide Black Alabamians an equal opportunity to participate in the political process. The NRF continues to support the appellees in this lawsuit.
“This case should be an easy one for the Supreme Court to decide,” said Eric H. Holder, Jr., the 82nd Attorney General of the United States. “The congressional map enacted by Alabama’s legislature—found to be racially discriminatory by lower courts—is a textbook violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act as it applies to redistricting. This law that has been in place and upheld in numerous cases over the years and repeatedly reauthorized by Congress with overwhelming bipartisan support—for more than half a century—must remain intact. Anything short of that determination is simply wrong and democracy diminishing.
“Racially discriminatory voting processes still exist and the legal protections in the Voting Rights Act remain absolutely necessary,” Holder continued. “Our nation is experiencing the greatest attack on the right to vote since the Jim Crow era and improperly drawn maps continue to diminish and dilute the voting power of communities of color. Our nation has made significant progress since 1965—yes, America has changed—but we have not yet reached Martin Luther King Jr.’s or our Founders’ Promised Land.
“Should a Court majority ignore this, I fear we will live in a less just country that lacks accountability for those who conduct themselves in a manner that is inconsistent with the values and promises of our founding documents and who are dismissive of the desires of the people,” Holder concluded.
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