July 11, 2024 - Brewer Storefront applauds a three-judge panel in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi for upholding a private right of action to sue under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP v. State Board of Election Commissioners.
The Storefront is the community service affiliate of the law firm, Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors. The Storefront recently launched the Texas Voting Rights Initiative (TVRI).
The Mississippi judges ruled in favor of the NAACP and numerous Black voters in a case concerning Republican-drawn state legislative maps. The court properly noted that “few congressional enactments have had a more profound effect on the country than the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and a large percentage of the enforcement actions under the Voting Rights Act have been brought by private individuals…”
Mississippi falls within the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which also covers Texas. Importantly, the Fifth Circuit has held that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act does provide a private right of action, and this Mississippi three-judge panel embraces the wisdom of that holding. This right of action has been acknowledged in hundreds of cases at the federal district level, and many times at the Supreme Court.
“The Mississippi court should be commended for validating that individuals may continue to serve as plaintiffs in Voting Rights Act cases,” Storefront Partner William A. Brewer III said. “It is critical that Black voters and other voters of color be empowered to challenge discriminatory election systems where they exist. Otherwise, these voters will be silenced and their rights suppressed.”
Late last year, a three-judge panel in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals found in a 2-1 decision in a redistricting case filed in Arkansas that only the federal government can bring a Section 2 voting rights challenge. That case was brought by the Arkansas State Conference NAACP and others.
“Unfortunately, judges in the Eighth Circuit removed the rights of individual voters in those seven states to bring lawsuits asserting their voting rights,” Brewer said. “We believe the private right of action should ultimately be restored in order to continue to ensure that voters of color in the United States are guaranteed a fair opportunity to elect candidates of their choosing.”
The Storefront has brought many successful voting rights cases on behalf of private individual plaintiffs; these cases spur election reform in districts across Texas and help minority communities elect the officials they choose to numerous school boards and city councils.
In March 2024, Brewer Storefront launched the Texas Voting Rights Initiative (TVRI), a statewide effort focused on ensuring that Texas school boards operate in compliance with the Voting Rights Act. The Storefront undertook an extensive analysis of voting systems across Texas and believes that many operate in violation of the VRA.
The Storefront currently has pending cases challenging at-largeelection systems used to elect school boards in the Pearland Independent School District, Humble Independent School District, and Angleton Independent School District in Texas.