NRF Responds to 8th Circuit Panel Decision in Arkansas State Conference NAACP v. Arkansas Board of Apportionment

For Immediate Release
November 20, 2023
Contact
Brooke Lillard
lillard@redistrictingfoundation.org

Washington, D.C. – Today, Marina Jenkins, Executive Director of the National Redistricting Foundation (NRF), the 501(c)(3) affiliate of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), issued the following statement in response to the 8th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals panel’s decision in Arkansas State Conference NAACP v. Arkansas Board of Apportionment:

“This decision is plainly wrong, and defies overwhelming precedent that has been established over decades since the enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Time and again, challenges have been brought forward by private individuals seeking to enforce the protections they deserve as citizens under this critical federal law. And judges across the country, including the current justices on the U.S. Supreme Court, have accepted and decided the challenges brought by those citizens. Simply put, this decision is an outlier that puts the 8th Circuit at odds with courts everywhere else across the country. Pending Section 2 lawsuits outside of the 8th Circuit, including those in Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas, should move forward as expected.”

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