By Jeff Wice & Alexis Marking.
This week- State Voting Rights Cases Moving Forward or Stayed?; Louisiana Congressional Redistricting Before U.S. Supreme Court
Unless there is any significant activity to report on during Thanksgiving week, this update will not publish again until Monday, December 2. Happy Thanksgiving!
N.Y. VOTING RIGHTS ACT LIGITATION
Orange County: Clarke et al. v. Newburgh
On November 19th, Attorney General Letitia James filed a letter with the Orange County Supreme Court judge who invalidated the state Voting Rights Act. The Attorney General informed the court that the New York State Office of the Attorney General (OAG) elected to invoke its statutory entitlement to intervene as of right in the appeal. OAG filed a notification of its intervention in the appeal with the Appellate Division, Second Department on November 14th.
On November 20th, the Second Department released a new order which changed the briefing schedule. On or before November 26th, the appellants must now perfect the appeals (submit the original papers constituting the record on appeal and file the appellants’ briefs). On or before December 5th, the respondents (the Town of Newburgh and the Newburgh Town Board) must file its brief. Lastly, the appellants must file reply briefs by December 9th. Oral argument is set for December 18th at 2:00 PM in the Appellate Division’s Brooklyn courthouse.
Erie County: Young v. Town of Cheektowaga
On November 21st, Attorney General Letitia James submitted a letter to the judge concerning the parties’ pending cross-motions for summary judgment and the recent decision of the Orange County Supreme Court in Clarke v. Newburgh.
The Town of Cheektowaga cited Clarke in its memorandum of law in support of its cross-motion for summary judgment. The Attorney General’s earlier submissions in this case did not address Clarke’s effect on this case, as it was before the decision was handed down.
In this letter, the Attorney General recommended that the court stay proceedings in this action and adjourn the oral arguments on the pending cross-motions for summary judgment (currently scheduled for December 4th) until the Second Department issues a decision in the Clarke appeal. Alternatively, if the court elects to proceed with this case, the NYSAG states that the court should not follow Clarke because it is not binding here and was “wrongly decided.”
Nassau County Legislature: Coads et al. v. Nassau County & NY Communities for Change (NYCC) v. Nassau County
On November 18th, Nassau County filed a letter to alert the judge to the briefing schedule and oral argument in Clarke v. Newburgh. Despite the outcome of Clarke affecting this action, the defendants asked to proceed with this trial as currently scheduled for December 17th—unless the judge grants their motion for summary judgment in full before that date.
On November 19th, Nassau County also filed a reply memorandum in support of their motion for summary judgment. The memorandum argued that (1) the court should grant summary judgment in their favor on the plaintiffs’ Section 34 gerrymandering claims, and (2) should also grant summary judgment for the plaintiffs’ NYVRA vote-dilution claim. The memo references the Clarke decision, which has now been appealed. The defendants argue that the NYVRA’s district-based provisions are unconstitutional and cannot satisfy strict scrutiny requirements.
Westchester County: Serratto et al. v. Town of Mount Pleasant
On November 18th, the plaintiffs filed a letter with the judge to discuss oral argument, which was scheduled for November 21st. In light of Clarke’s oral argument being scheduled for December 18th, as well as the Town of Mount Pleasant’s pending motion for a stay, the parties both requested a conference to reschedule oral argument to mid to late January.
On November 19th, a court notice was filed that a conference would take place on November 21st rather than the previously scheduled oral argument. The parties would discuss the status of the action and the defendants’ recently filed Motion to Stay.
On November 21st, an order was filed stating that the parties stipulate to stay the case pending a decision from the Appellate Division, Second Department in Clarke. The parties also agreed to appear on January 27th, 2025.
AROUND THE NATION
LOUISIANA: Thirteen states have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to provide clarity on Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act (VRA), claiming that the federal courts have “enabled statutory mission creep.” In the amici curiae brief signed by state attorneys general, the states assert that clarity is necessary so that states can comply with Section 2 of the VRA without violating the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Recent decisions from federal courts have created confusion on how to do so.
This request comes as the Court prepares to hear oral argument in a Louisiana racial gerrymandering case. This case centers on Louisiana’s response to a federal district court’s 2022 ruling in Robinson v. Ardoin, which stated that Louisiana was likely violating Section 2 of the VRA by having only one majority-Black congressional district. The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court and was sent back to the lower court, where the court held that Louisiana was required to redraw the map by January 2024 or otherwise go to trial. The state believed that a trial would result in the court imposing its own map, so the Louisiana Legislature went into a special session and drew a new map that included a second majority-Black district.
However, after the map was signed into law, a group of “non-African Americans” (as they identified themselves), sued Louisiana and alleged that the new map was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The Western Louisiana District Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and blocked the new map from being used in any election. Louisiana appealed and received an emergency stay from the U.S. Supreme Court in May 2024 to block the lower court’s injunction.
This case has now returned to the U.S. Supreme Court. Oral argument has not been scheduled yet and is expected to take place in early 2025.
INSTITUTE RESOURCES
The New York Elections, Census and Redistricting Institute has archived many resources for the public to view on our Digital Commons Page.
Our Redistricting Resources page contains resources on the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act. You can access the page
here: https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/redistricting_resources/
Archived Updates can be accessed
here: https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/redistricting_roundtable_updates/
Please share this weekly update with your colleagues. To be added to the mailing list, please contact Jeffrey.wice@nyls.edu
The N.Y. Elections, Census & Redistricting Institute is supported by grants from the New York Community Trust, New York Census Equity Fund, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the New York City Council. This report was prepared by Jeff Wice & Alexis Marking.