Collaborating with LDF on Major Voting Rights Brief

Working with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), our attorneys wrote an impactful brief for an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case.

On Feb. 27, the United States Supreme Court will review one of the most consequential and effective civil rights statutes via the case Shelby Co. v. Holder. In this dispute, Shelby County, Ala., is challenging the constitutionality of a core provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The provision in question, Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, requires jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination in voting to submit proposed voting changes for federal approval before they are enacted to ensure that they are free from discrimination. The city of Calera, which is within Shelby County, enacted a discriminatory redistricting plan in 2008 without complying with Section 5.

Holland & Knight is representing LDF, which represents six African-American residents of Shelby County who intervened as defendants to support the statute's constitutionality. We filed a brief, as did the United States, on Jan. 25.

This is one of the most important cases being heard by the Supreme Court this term and, when decided, will receive a lot of attention. The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of Section 5 four separate times in the past and all lower courts have similarly upheld Section 5 against constitutional challenges.

Senior Counsel Sam Spital led our team in these efforts along with substantial support from Executive Partner Bill Honan and Partners Barry Vasios, Marisa Marinelli and Bob Burns (all NYC). International Law Clerk Oyvind Movlen, Associates Mustafa Rizvi, Alexander Marmar, Duvol Thompson and Leila George-Wheeler (all NYC) as well as Chesterfield Smith Fellow Jonathan Stratton (MIA) also provided helpful assistance.