Appeals court hears arguments on Voting Rights Act scope

By ANDREW DeMILLO
Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A federal appeals court is considering whether private citizens can sue to enforce a key part of the Voting Rights Act. A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in a lawsuit challenging Arkansas’ state House maps that focuses on the scope of the 1965 law. A federal judge last year dismissed the redistricting lawsuit and said that private citizens couldn’t sue to enforce a key part of the Voting Rights Act. Attorneys for the ACLU and Justice Department argued that the judge was wrong to dismiss on those grounds.