The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals recently made a significant ruling that impacts the Voting Rights Act in redistricting cases, particularly in the South. The court ruled against the Justice Department and voters of color who challenged the redrawing of Galveston, Texas’s county commission map, which dismantled a district where minorities were the majority.
The conservative appeals court reversed its previous precedent that allowed multiple minority groups to join together in challenges to alleged discriminatory redistricting plans under the VRA. Circuit Judge Edith Jones stated in the majority opinion that coalition districts are not in line with the text of the Voting Rights Act.
