Washington, DC — Today, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito sent two letters to Congress, refusing to recuse himself from cases related to the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. These letters were issued in response to widespread calls for Alito to recuse himself from these cases amid controversy surrounding actions undertaken by his wife that indicated his family may hold bias in these matters. Kedric Payne, vice president, general counsel and senior director for ethics at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, issued the following statement:

“Justice Alito's public statement, on its face, seems to be a step toward more Supreme Court transparency, but instead, it reveals the truth that justices decide for themselves if recusal is reasonable.

“Those familiar with the Court's ethics code know that it creates an exception that swallows the rule by instructing justices themselves to interpret the recusal requirement ‘narrowly.’ The Court can no longer pretend that, without an enforceable ethics code and an internal ethics office, it can resolve the public's concern with its questionable ethics.”

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a unanimous federal three-judge court ruling that had ordered the redrawing of South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District for discriminating against Black voters. Oral argument in the case, Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of NAACP, took place in October 2023. 

Following the decision, Annabelle Harless, director of redistricting litigation at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, released the following statement:

“Today’s ruling is a disappointment — and an affront to Black voters who have, for far too long, endured racial discrimination in voting.

"Not only does today’s decision harm Black South Carolinians, but it also makes it more difficult to fight back against racial gerrymandering, which is prohibited by the U.S. Constitution. In doing so, this decision allows the cloak of partisan gerrymandering to excuse discrimination against Black voters.  

"We will continue to work tirelessly with our partners on the ground and across the space to fight back against racial discrimination in voting maps.”

Background: In early 2023, a federal district court three-judge panel struck down South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, finding that the state Legislature had set an impermissible racial target for the district and removed thousands of Black voters from the district in order to meet it. The court held that the district was designed to “bleach” the voting strength of the Black community in the Charleston area.  

Campaign Legal Center has been involved in several lawsuits challenging racial gerrymandering in voting maps. In August 2023, Campaign Legal Center joined a friend-of-the-court brief filed by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and other voting rights organizations urging the Supreme Court to uphold the lower court’s ruling and avoid weakening the protections against racial gerrymandering enshrined in the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 

Today, the Minnesota Senate passed the Minnesota Voting Rights Act (MNVRA) — landmark pro-voter legislation that will strengthen the freedom to vote for all Minnesotans, including voters of color who have historically been denied an equal opportunity to participate in the political process. The legislation, which passed the Minnesota House Monday, will now head to Governor Tim Walz’s desk for his signature.

Upon enacting the MNVRA, Minnesota will become the seventh state to adopt a state-level Voting Rights Act (state VRA). The MNVRA provides Minnesotans — particularly Black, Indigenous and other Minnesotans of color — necessary state-law protections against racial discrimination in voting.

“The Minnesota Voting Rights Act will help ensure that Minnesotans of color can continue to make their voices heard at the ballot box and elect representatives of their choice,” said Lata Nott, senior legal counsel for voting rights at Campaign Legal Center. “It is heartening to see legislators come together to pass common-sense, pro-voter legislation that solidifies and builds upon the protections in the federal Voting Rights Act. At the end of the day, this legislation takes steps toward a more equitable government where  every voice is heard and every vote counts equally.”

In the decade following 2013’s disastrous Shelby County v. Holder ruling that gutted the federal Voting Rights Act, federal courts have continued to chip away at voting rights — and a gridlocked Congress has done nothing to stem the tide. This MNVRA, sponsored by Rep. Emma Greenman and Sen. Bobby Joe Champion, solidifies and expands upon the federal VRA and provides Minnesotans robust state law protections against racial discrimination in voting.

The Minnesota Voting Rights Act: 

• Provides Minnesota voters with a “private right-of-action” in state law to sue against racially discriminatory voting policies.
• Protects voters from voter suppression, or racially discriminatory voting policies and procedures that impair access to the ballot.
• Protects voters from vote dilution, including election systems and voting districts that cancel out or minimize the voting power of people of color, keeping them from electing their preferred candidates.
• Makes it easier for voters experiencing discrimination to fight back in court and through collaborative non-court processes.
• Enshrines the “democracy canon,” a rule requiring courts to interpret all election-related laws in favor of voters and their equal right to participate in the political process.

Read the legislation (scroll to line 54.1) here.

Campaign Legal Center is active in directly advocating for and providing state partners with legal and policy support to help state VRAs get passed in state legislative chambers — including in Minnesota. CLC also files lawsuits to enforce state VRAs on behalf of communities of color, including the first case brought under the Washington Voting Rights Act.

Learn more about state VRAs here.