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Experts examine how Supreme Court could overhaul voting rights litigation in possible gerrymandering case

Experts examine how Supreme Court could overhaul voting rights litigation in possible gerrymandering case

A new voting rights case bubbling up to the Supreme Court has the potential to transform how voting rights are litigated in the courts. On Monday, the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act – which prohibits the “denial or abridgment of the right to vote on account of race or color through voting qualifications or prerequisites” – does not explicitly grant a private right of action. In other words, the Eighth Circuit decided that individuals or advocacy groups who believe a state is violating a voter’s rights can’t bring a lawsuit – only the federal government can do so. In the case in question, the court said a local NAACP group in Arkansas, which is suing the state over redistricting maps that the group says discriminated against Black voters, needs to convince the Justice Department to take up their case. “Did Congress give private plaintiffs the ability to sue under [Section 2] of the Voting Rights Act? Text and structure reveal that the answer is no, so we affirm the district court’s decision to dismiss,” the ruling states. Legal experts told Fox News Digital that the case is likely to make its way up to the highest court in the land, giving the nine justices the opportunity to examine the Voting Rights Act in a presidential election year. SUPREME COURT RULES IN FAVOR OF BLACK VOTERS IN ALABAMA RACIAL GERRYMANDERING CASE “Justice [Neil] Gorsuch had indicated that this is a significant issue, and the Eighth Circuit just agreed that there isn’t a private right of action. Resolution of this question is clearly headed to the Supreme Court for resolution,” Jason Torchinsky, a partner at Holzman Vogel and an expert in election law, told Fox News Digital. Monday’s ruling applies only to federal courts covered by the Eighth Circuit, which includes Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. But there are several pending lawsuits by private groups that are challenging political maps drawn by legislators across the country. In 2021, Gorsuch, who lawyers refer to as a “textualist,” indicated that at some point the Supreme Court needs to decide if Congress assumed a private right to action in the Voting Rights Act or not. SUPREME COURT APPEARS TO LEAN IN FAVOR OF UPHOLDING GOP-DRAWN SOUTH CAROLINA CONGRESSIONAL MAP “I join the court’s opinion in full, but flag one thing it does not decide,” Gorsuch wrote at the time, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas. “Our cases have assumed — without deciding — that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 furnishes an implied cause of action under section 2.” Mike Dimino, law professor at Widener University Commonwealth Law School in Pennsylvania, said the difficulty with the Eighth Circuit’s argument is that “the Supreme Court’s attitude in the mid-’60s was much more open to the creation of a private right of action where a statute was ambiguous.” “If you’re in Congress, and you’re writing a statute in the mid-’60s, you look at the Supreme Court’s precedent at the time, and you say, ‘All right, well, this is what the Supreme Court does,’” Dimino said.  “But the statute has gone on now for more than 55 years, and the Supreme Court hasn’t decided squarely whether these suits are available or not,” he said. Dimino says he believes it is unlikely that the Supreme Court would affirm the Eighth Circuit’s decision should it decide to take up the case. HIGH-PROFILE SUPREME COURT CASES TO WATCH IN 2023-2024 The Legal Defense Fund, a civil rights group, criticized the Eighth Circuit’s decision by saying that it means “[i]ndividuals who experience voting discrimination on account of their race will be prevented from suing under the Voting Rights Act (VRA)’s critical Section 2 provisions to vindicate them and must instead rely on the discretion and limited resources of the U.S. Attorney General.” The group also called the ruling “a stark departure from six decades of decisions in hundreds of Section 2 cases,” pointing to the recent Supreme Court case Allen v. Milligan. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In that case, which was decided this year, a 5-4 majority affirmed a lower court decision that ruled in favor of Black voters in Alabama who challenged the state’s GOP-friendly map, concluding the state likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Should the Eighth Circuit case be petitioned to the Supreme Court, it could set up a timeline for the case to be decided during a presidential election year. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Utah Republican seeking to replace Romney accused of falsifying endorsements, strong-arming GOP for support

Utah Republican seeking to replace Romney accused of falsifying endorsements, strong-arming GOP for support

A Utah Republican seeking to replace retiring GOP Sen. Mitt Romney in the U.S. Senate has been deemed “one hundred percent a liar” by one state lawmaker following his claim that his campaign received endorsements from several elected officials in the state. Earlier this year, then-Utah state House Speaker Brad Wilson, who announced his campaign for the Senate in September, released a list of more than 60 lawmakers who his campaign said endorsed Wilson in the race. Wilson’s campaign also said last week that it has received endorsements from more than 50 mayors throughout the state. However, at least a few of those endorsements were not actually given to Wilson’s campaign, according to four officials whose names appeared on the lists and spoke to Fox News Digital about the situation. Speaking anonymously about the alleged endorsement of Wilson’s campaign, one lawmaker whose name was on the list said he never endorsed the Republican in his race for the Senate. Other officials confirmed to Fox Digital that their names were listed even though they didn’t endorse Wilson’s bid. UTAH HOUSE SPEAKER JUMPS IN SENATE RACE TO REPLACE ROMNEY: ‘OUR COUNTRY IS NOT ON THE RIGHT PATH’ The lawmaker – who requested to remain anonymous out of concern for retaliation from Wilson – said the fiasco with the campaign began this year when Wilson, whose tenure as House speaker concluded last week, called House members and pressured them to donate to him after he launched an exploratory committee to consider running for the seat. “I think it’s completely inappropriate to call around and ask for donations from members. So, I was put in a position out of the gate where it’s like I say no to our current speaker of the House who still holds and wields all the power,” the lawmaker said. “It’s completely unacceptable and inappropriate.” The lawmaker, despite being reluctant to make contributions so early in the race, ultimately donated to Wilson’s campaign and “thought that’d be the end of it.” “Then this letter comes down … saying that I was on a list of legislators that had endorsed him. I’m like, ‘Whoa, I didn’t endorse Brad. I gave him money because he asked for it … he’s speaker of the House,’” the lawmaker told Fox. “I called other legislators, and they said the same thing. They felt like they were put in a tough position where they felt like they had to donate to him.” Describing it as a “he knows what he’s doing type of situation,” the lawmaker also told Fox that some state House members who didn’t financially support Wilson ended up losing their committee assignments. Another House member, the lawmaker said, is supporting Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs in the Senate race and ended up in an awkward situation after the representative made a small donation to Wilson and later appeared on the list, which was released in August, prior to Wilson’s campaign announcement. “It just put everyone in a really tough position, and I don’t think it’s right,” the lawmaker said. “I’m not sure what’s going to happen as we move forward here because he still technically holds a lot of power.” MORE THAN 60 UTAH REPUBLICANS ENDORSE PRIMARY CHALLENGER TO MITT ROMNEY “To have him be speaker and do that is just unacceptable. I mean, I’m not aware of someone who says they’re going to run and calls while they’re still in power and is gathering up all these bits of, you know, donations and endorsements,” the lawmaker added. “Let’s be real. Brad doesn’t need the money. He is self-funding most of it anyways, and he has tons of it.” The alleged endorsements for Wilson’s campaign, according to the lawmaker, were “an attempt” by the campaign to show strength early on in the campaign process by listing some House members’ names on the list solely because they gave him a donation he solicited. “In reality, they weren’t endorsements. They were just people who were scared,” the lawmaker said. “I’ve seen the same thing with the mayoral races or mayors around the state. They’re also saying, ‘I didn’t endorse him, but he put my name on a list.’” The lawmaker said the false endorsements that ended up on the list are representative of how Wilson has “run things as speaker of the House,” saying that “you don’t cross him” without some type of retaliation. “One hundred percent a liar,” the lawmaker added of Wilson. In addition to the state lawmaker, three other elected officials in the state confirmed to Fox News Digital that they did not endorse Wilson’s campaign and were seemingly shocked to see their names on the lists. In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for Wilson’s campaign said, “It’s sad our opponents are spending Thanksgiving agonizing over Brad’s endorsement list, but the fact is Brad Wilson has over one hundred Republican endorsements from every corner of Utah, many times more than all the other candidates in the race combined.” Asked whether it was appropriate for Wilson to solicit donations during his speakership, Wilson’s campaign responded, “Brad has consistently smashed fundraising records in this race because, like any strong campaign, he’s been asking his friends and allies to chip in to support his campaign.” In September, following Romney’s announcement that he would not be seeking reelection to the upper chamber in 2024, Wilson told Fox News Digital that a “number of factors” played into his decision to enter the Senate race. “One is just the overwhelming support we’ve had from everyone in the state — from elected officials to grassroots support. Just a lot of people encouraging us to run, whether it’s been support in terms of wanting to go out and knock on doors or get supporters on board [with] financial support. I mean, that’s been overwhelming,” he said. “At the end of the day, our country is not on the right path, and we all know it. People feel like Utah is on the right path, and I

Ohio Rep. Bill Johnson leaving Congress to accept role as president of Youngstown State

Ohio Rep. Bill Johnson leaving Congress to accept role as president of Youngstown State

U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, announced Tuesday that he is retiring from Congress to accept an offer to become president of Youngstown State University. Johnson, who was first elected to the U.S. House in 2010, will continue in his role as a lawmaker for several more months before starting as president of Youngstown State University in March. “After much thought and prayerful deliberation, I have accepted the offer to lead Youngstown State University and will not be seeking an 8th term in Congress,” Johnson wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “As I’ve stated previously, I wasn’t looking for another job, because I love the one I have serving the people of Eastern Ohio in the U.S. House. This was an extremely difficult decision.” “This is not a goodbye, however. I will continue serving in the House for several more months, and you will see no let up,” the outgoing congressman continued. “My offices are open and my staff remains ready to serve you.” TEXAS CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY INCREASES TUITION, MEANING IT COSTS LESS TO ATTEND HARVARD The Youngstown State University Board of Trustees voted 8-1 on Tuesday to offer Johnson his new job as president of the institution. Johnson, 69, will succeed former Ohio State University football head coach Jim Tressel, who left as Youngstown president in February. Helen K. Lafferty is currently serving as the university’s interim president. “There is still much left on my agenda to do before I depart Congress, including doing all I can to help pass tax exemption legislation to benefit the people of East Palestine as well as a broader rail safety bill, streamline America’s LNG export process, and advance a responsible budget and spending package for the remainder of this fiscal year. It’s business as usual,” Johnson wrote in his statement on X. OHIO DEMOCRAT UNDER INVESTIGATION AFTER ALLEGATIONS OF ‘ERRATIC AND ABUSIVE’ BEHAVIOR The Ohio lawmaker represents the state’s sixth congressional district, which covers the East Palestine area where a Norfolk Southern train derailed in February, resulting in black smoke blanketing the village and hazardous chemicals spilling into the community’s soil and water. The filing deadline for congressional candidates to submit signed petitions to run in party primaries for the two-year term that starts January 2025 is Dec. 20, and the primary election will be held in Ohio on March 19.  Republican Gov. Mike DeWine will decide if and when to schedule a special election to select someone to replace Johnson in Congress for the rest of 2024.