Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians v. Howe

The full Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals may rehear a case that concerns the ability of private voters and groups to challenge racially discriminatory voting practices under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and 42 U.S.C. §1983.

Last Updated: June 20, 2025

Published: June 20, 2025

In 2022, the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, Spirit Lake Tribe, and three Native American voters filed a federal lawsuit challenging North Dakota’s 2021 state legislative redistricting plan. The suit alleged that the plan unlawfully dilutes the voting strength of Native American voters, in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA).

Enacted in 1965, Section 2 of the VRA bans racial discrimination against voters. Beyond just the denial or abridgement of the right to cast a ballot, Section 2 also applies to discriminatory redistricting plans that dilute the voting power of minority voters.

Plaintiffs sued North Dakota’s secretary of state under Section 2 of the VRA and Section 1983, a federal statute that allows individuals to sue state officials who violate their federally protected rights. In April 2022, the secretary filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that only the Department of Justice (DOJ), and not private parties like the plaintiffs, can sue for violations of Section 2. In May 2022, after the DOJ filed a statement of interest that private parties can sue to enforce Section 2, the district court denied the secretary’s motion.

In November 2023, after a trial, the district court held North Dakota’s redistricting plan discriminates against Native voters, in violation of Section 2. The same month, the Eighth Circuit, in a separate case, embraced a fringe theory that Congress did not intend for private parties to sue under Section 2 of the VRA. That ruling, however, did not address Section 1983.

On May 14, 2025, a three-judge panel of the Eighth Circuit ruled private plaintiffs cannot sue to enforce Section 2 of the VRA through Section 1983 either.

Under the panel’s ruling, voters in the seven states covered by the Eighth Circuit (Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota) cannot sue to stop violations of Section 2 of the VRA. The DOJ can still file Section 2 cases, but that alone is not enough to prevent voting discrimination in these states, which include significant Native communities who have, and continue to face, rampant discrimination in voting.

For decades, Congress, the courts, the DOJ, and private litigants have agreed that Section 2 of the VRA can be enforced by individual voters and groups. Historically, a majority of Section 2 cases have been brought by private parties, and DOJ attorneys have explained that the department relies on private lawsuits because it does not have the resources to bring all of these types cases even if it wanted to. The current DOJ is also unlikely to bring Section 2 cases. Since January, the department has shed 70 percent of its Civil Rights Division staff, dismissed nearly all of its Section 2 cases, and shifted its focus to pursuing conspiracy theories about the 2020 general election.

On May 28, 2025, the plaintiffs asked the full Eighth Circuit to rehear the case.

On June 4, 2025, six amicus briefs were filed in support of the plaintiffs’ request, including a brief from Historians Council member Alexander Keyssar and three other voting rights historians, as well as a brief from 16 former DOJ attorneys who litigated cases to enforce Section 2 of the VRA.

District Court