The fight for a private right of action in the 8th Circuit

• The 8th Circuit denied a request for a rehearing in a North Dakota legislative redistricting case. Plaintiffs were asking the court to rehear the issue of private right of action under Section 2. Thanks to a catastrophic 2023 ruling, only the federal government, and not private parties, can bring lawsuits under the Voting Rights Act in the 8th Circuit.
  
  
• "Two divided panels of this Court have now declared that the citizens of Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota have fewer rights than citizens in all other states,” the plaintiffs wrote in their petition for a rehearing. 

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Update on Mississippi’s legislative maps

• Mississippi officials appealed judgement on the state’s legislative maps to SCOTUS. A federal court previously ruled the maps violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Acts. 

The harm of the big ugly bill

• Marc joined Preet Bharara for a discussion on the future of the rule of law, democracy, the Supreme Court, the budget bill and more. 

The latest media giant to bow down to Trump

• Marc also joined Alicia Menendez on MSNBC’s Deadline White House to discuss CBS News bowing down to the Trump administration and the destruction this will have on the media landscape and the democracy movement at large. 

Coming up next week

• On Monday, the DC Circuit will hear arguments in the government’s request to block a court order that prevents it from withholding funds from the U.S. Agency for International Development.