The Supreme Court on Monday issued two unexplained orders returning voting rights cases from Mississippi and North Dakota to lower courts for reconsideration. The moves follow the court's recent ruling in Louisiana v. Callais that reshaped Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from both orders.
The orders sent the cases back for review in light of the Callais decision from last month. In both the Mississippi and North Dakota matters, lower courts had addressed claims of racial discrimination in district maps brought by private voters and groups such as the NAACP. The states had argued that only the Department of Justice, not private parties, may enforce key provisions of the Voting Rights Act.
