Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Holder
| Docket No. | Op. Below | Argument | Opinion | Vote | Author | Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08-322 | D. D.C. |
Apr 29, 2009 |
Jun 22, 2009 | 8-1 | Roberts | OT 2008 |
Issue: Whether the appellant is eligible to bail out from the preclearance requirement of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, and whether Congress provided sufficient justification of current voting discrimination when extended the requirement in 2006 for another twenty-five years.
Judgment: Reversed and remanded, 8-1, in an opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts on June 22, 2009.
SCOTUSblog Coverage
- Section 5 survives (Lyle Denniston, June 22, 2009)
- Sec. 5: Searching for a way out (Lyle Denniston, April 29, 2009)
- Last argument: Major test on voting rights (Lyle Denniston, April 25, 2009)
- U.S. supports voting rights law's extension (Lyle Denniston, November 26, 2008)
Briefs and Documents
Merit briefs
- Brief for Appellant Northwest Municipal Utility District Number One
- Brief for Appellee Travis County
- Brief for Federal Appellee
- Brief Intervenor-Appellees Texas State Conference of NAACP Branches, Austin Branch of The NAACP, and Nathaniel Lesane
- Brief Intervenor-Appellee Rodney and Nicole Louis, et al., Lisa and David Diaz, et al., Angie Garcia, et al., and People for the American Way
- Reply Brief for Appellant Northwest Municipal Utility District Number One
Amicus briefs
- Brief for the Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation and the Goldwater Institute in Support of Appellant
- Brief for the Southeastern Legal Foundation in Support of Appellant
- Brief for the Mountain States Legal Foundation in Support of Appellant
- Brief for the Pacific Legal Foundation, the Center for Equal Opportunity, and Project 21 in Support of Appellant
- Brief for Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue in Support of Appellant
- Brief for Dr. Abigail Thernstrom and Former Justice Department Officials in Support of Appellant
- Brief for the Constitutional Accountability Center in Support of Appellees
- Brief for the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law in Support of Appellee
- Brief for the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, American Citizens for Justice, the Asian American Bar Association of Greater Chicago The Asian American Bar Association of New York, the Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts, Asian American Lead, the Asian American Society of Central Virginia, Asian Community Development Corporation of Boston, the Asian Pacific American Agenda Coalition, Asian the Pacific American Bar Association of the Greater Washington, DC Area, the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Pennsylvania, the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center, the Asian Pacific Islander American Vote, the Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia, the Chinese American Voters Association, Chinese Progressive Association, the Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans of Virginia, Filipino American Human Services, Inc., the Korean American League for Civic Action, the Korean American Resource & Cultural Center, the Korean American Voters’ Council of NY & NJ, Korean Community Service Center of Greater Washington, DC Maryland Vietnamese Mutual Association, MassVOTE, the Muslim Bar Association of New York, the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium, the North American South Asian Bar Association, OCA, One Lowell, One Nevada, the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation, Providence Youth and Student Movement, The Sikh Coalition, South Asian Americans Leading Together, South Asian Bar Association of Michigan South Asian Bar Association of New York, South Asian Youth Action!, Vietnamese American Initiative for Development, the Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association of New Orleans, and YKASEC – Empowering the Korean American Community in Support of Appellee
- Brief for the Civil Rights Clinic at Howard University School of Law in Support of Appellee and Intervenor-Appellees
- Brief for the Nicholas deB Katzenbach, Drew S. Days, III, John R. Dunne, Brian K. Landsberg, Bill Lann Lee, J. Stanley Pottinger, James P. Turner in Support of Appellee
- Brief for the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the LCCR Education Fund, et al., in Support of Appellee
- Brief for the American Bar Association in Support of Appellee
- Brief for Julius Chambers, Armand Derfner, James U. Blacksher, Anita Earls, Robert Mcduff, Edward Still, Ellis Turnage, Cynthia Mccottry Smith, Bernard R. Fielding, Marjorie Amos-Frazier, Lee H. Moultrie, Southern Echo, and Democracy North Carolina in Support of Appellee
- Brief for Jurisdictions That Have Bailed Out Under the Voting Rights Act in Support of Appellee
- Brief for Former Republican Officeholders in Support of Appellee
- Brief for Barbara Lee, Member of Congress and Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Nydia Velazquez, Member of Congress and Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and Michael Honda, Member of Congress and Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, et al., in Support of Appellee
- Brief for Alaska Native Voters and Tribes in Support of Appellee
- Brief for Members of the Texas House of Representatives in Support of Appellee
- Brief for the Honorable Congressman John Lewis in Support of Appellee and Intervenor-Appellee
- Brief for the Navajo Nation, Anthony Wounded Head, Sr., Ivan Starr, Oliver J. Semans, Sr., and Dan McCool, in Support of Appellee
- Brief for Reps. John Conyers, Jr., F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr., Jerrold Nadler, and Melvin L. Watt, and Former Rep. Steve Chabot in Support of Appellee
- Brief for the Honorable Bob Riley, Governor of the State of Alabama in Support of Neither Party
- Brief for Nathaniel Persily, Stephen Ansolabehere, and Charles Stewart III in Support of Neither Party
Certiorari-Stage Documents
- Opinion below (D.C. District)
- Statement as to jurisdiction
- Motion to affirm filed by appellee Michael B. Mukasey, Attorney General
- Motion to affirm filed by appellees Intervenor-Appellees Texas State Conference of NAACP, et al.
- Reply of appellant
