Read a full PDF of our statement here.
This week, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) filed an amicus brief, or friend of the court brief, in Tangipa v. Newsom. The amicus brief explained that, based on LDF’s extensive expertise litigating voting cases, there are numerous reasons a legislature may enact a redistricting plan that contains additional districts where Black or Latino voters are able to elect candidates of their choice. This fact, or a state’s intent to comply with the Voting Rights Act, says little about whether race played an improper role in redistricting.
The brief supported neither party in the lawsuit but rather highlighted the many ways a legislative body can draw majority-minority or crossover voting districts that still comply with federal voting rights law. This includes grouping communities of interest together when drawing district lines or advancing other traditional districting principles like compactness, all of which can be done while also creating majority-minority districts that do not violate equal protection requirements.
“A state’s intent to comply with the Voting Rights Act is not an indication of wrongdoing. As long as the redistricting process did not involve the unnecessary race-based assignment of voters, the mere creation of more districts that provide additional electoral opportunities for Black and Latino voters is absolutely constitutional,” said LDF Assistant Counsel Kathryn Sadasivan. “As the premiere racial justice organization litigating voting rights cases before the Supreme Court and other federal courts, we hope the court considers the principles articulated in LDF’s brief when deciding the fate of the lawsuit’s far-reaching attack on California’s redistricting map.”
To learn more about the current state of play of redistricting in various states, visit LDF’s Redistricting Watch series on Substack.
To learn more about redistricting and LDF’s work to ensure fair representation for Black voters across the country, visit our website.
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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil rights law organization. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Please note that LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957 — although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights.
