Goodbye Strangers: The Collapse of Omegle from Legal Troubles

By: Sarah Wejman

Edited by: isabel niemer and Ananya Chag

When 18-year-old Leif K-Brooks founded Omegle in March of 2009, he hoped for it to serve as a medium between people of all backgrounds from around the world. Being from a small town, he explained that he always loved using online forums to expand the knowledge of both himself and others through his love for the Internet. Just recently on Nov. 8, 2023, K-Brooks announced that Omegle would no longer exist. While the premise of Omegle, an online chat site that randomly matches a user with a stranger, was beloved by many, it was abused to the point that K-Brooks had to shut down the site completely.

Like many other social media and live streaming sites, Omegle provided “an online hunting ground” for sexual predators to find targets, and the pandemic increased the number of heinous acts committed.[1] In fact, in the last two years alone, Omegle has been mentioned in over 50 cases against pedophiles.[2] One landmark case has received particularly high coverage and involves the horrific story of a woman who was sexually abused online through Omegle for three years. Under the name Alice, or A.M, she anonymously shared her story of being forced to send explicit images and videos of herself from ages 11 to 15 to a Canadian man named Ryan Scott Fordyce.[3] Fordyce threatened to release pictures of her if she told others about any of this. In an interview, Alice explained that she was also “sent back, in a sense, to recruit more [underage girls] as if it was a cult.”[4]

In the lawsuit, A.M v. Omegle.com, 3:21-cv-01674-MO (2022), Alice claims that the nature of Omegle is dangerous and proper safeguards were not implemented. For example, Alice argues that Omegle should not have allowed children and adult men to be connected in the first place.[5] In total, Alice brought eight claims against Omegle including “product liability arising out of defects in design,” negligence from lack of warning about the platform’s dangers, and facilitating sex and human trafficking. Omegle attempted to claim Section 230 immunity for some of the claims, which essentially provides immunity for online platforms against claims regarding comments and messages contributed by their users.”[6] Section 230 protects platforms from being legally punished when users exercise their First Amendment rights to speech. However, platforms are not exempt if the content “violates federal criminal law, intellectual property rights, or a few other categories of legal obligations.”[7] Omegle argues that the plaintiff is shifting the blame from Fordyce to them, thus they are still justly entitled to Section 230 immunity. However, Judge Mosman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon determined that Omegle did not receive such protections. He reasoned although the fact the chats and videos were exchanged as third-party content, that was not the issue at hand. Rather, the real issue was Omegle’s lack of warning signs about potentially dangerous interactions. The Court determined this entailed a product liability case because of the nature of Omegle’s unregulated chats: children and sexual predators shouldn’t be matched in the first place, but the product allows for this.

In his Omegle farewell statement, K-Brooks expresses that he has “done [his] best to weather the attacks, with the interests of Omegle’s users...in mind.”[8] In his concluding paragraph, he states that “[t]he battle for Omegle has been lost, but the war against the Internet rages on.”[9] He fears that many online platforms will soon fall due to the inability to prevent predators and malicious Internet-goers from plaguing their sites. In this disheartening reality, K-Brooks thinks our Internet interactions will be more like a “souped-up version of TV,” meaning there is little room for live human interactions to occur.[10] A.M v Omegle.com is one of many past and future cases of its kind, and K-Brooks’ evaluation is likely correct at least in part. This issue presents a challenging ethical and legal dilemma: how do we preserve First Amendment rights –a founding liberty of the U.S. that receives ample legal protection and value– for law-abiding citizens, while still protecting vulnerable individuals from the abundant and appalling dangers of the Internet? Although a solution is not clear, a good starting place may be to continue speaking with victims. Having a majority who has never been abused over the Internet and who lack proper exposure to a variety of real-life testimonies on the matter would not be an adequate solution. But allowing those whose lives were affected because safety protocols failed to do their job would certainly be a step in the right direction.

Notes

1. Eric Lagatta, “Anonymous Video Chat Service Omegle Shuts Down, Founder Cites ‘Unspeakably Heinous Crimes,’” USA Today, November 9, 2023, https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2023/11/09/omegle-shuts-down-leif-k-brooks-state ment/71514658007/.

2. Annabelle Liang and Joe Tidy, “Omegle Shut Down: Video Chat Website Closed after Abuse Claims,” BBC News, November 9, 2023, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67364634.

3. Bill Chappell, “Video Chat Site Omegle Shuts down after 14 Years — and an Abuse Victim’s Lawsuit,” NPR, November 9, 2023, https://www.npr.org/2023/11/09/1211807851/omegle-shut-down-leif-k-brooks.

4. Liang and Tidy, “Omegle Shut Down.”

5. A.M v. Omegle.com, 3:21-cv-01674-MO (2022).

6. Communications Decency Act, 47 U.S. Code § 230 (1996)

7. Jennifer Stisa Granick, “Is This the End of the Internet as We Know It?” American Civil Liberties Union, February 22, 2023, https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/section-230-is-this-the-end-of-the-internet-as-we-know-it#:~:text=While%20Section%20230%20immunizes%20onlin

8. Leif K-Brooks, “Dear Strangers,” November 8, 2023. https://www.omegle.com/.

9. K-Brooks, “Dear Strangers.”

10. K-Brooks, “Dear Strangers.”

Bibliography

A.M v. Omegle.com, 3:21-cv-01674-MO (2022).

Chappell, Bill. “Video Chat Site Omegle Shuts down after 14 Years — and an Abuse Victim’s Lawsuit.” NPR, November 9, 2023. https://www.npr.org/2023/11/09/1211807851/omegle-shut-down-leif-k-brooks.

Granick, Jennifer Stisa. “Is This the End of the Internet as We Know It?” American Civil Liberties Union, February 22, 2023. https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/section-230-is-this-the-end-of-the-internet-as-we- know-it#:~:text=While%20Section%20230%20immunizes%20online.

K-Brooks, Leif. “Dear Strangers.” Omegle, November 8, 2023. https://www.omegle.com/. 

Lagatta, Eric. “Anonymous Video Chat Service Omegle Shuts Down, Founder Cites ‘Unspeakably Heinous Crimes.’” USA Today, November 9, 2023. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2023/11/09/omegle-shuts-down-leif-k-brooks-state ment/71514658007/.

Liang, Annabelle, and Joe Tidy. “Omegle Shut Down: Video Chat Website Closed after Abuse Claims.” BBC News, November 9, 2023, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67364634.

Florida’s “Anti-Woke” Legislation and How Its Intentions Remain Protected

By: Sari Richmond

Edited by: Sarah Wachs and alexandria nagy

I. Florida House Bill 7 

On April 22, 2022, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed House Bill (HB) 7, legislation allegedly designed to “give businesses, employees, children, and families tools to stand up against discrimination and woke indoctrination.”[1] HB 7 (the Individual Freedom Act) was promoted by DeSantisto ensure children would not be raised to be shameful or spiteful by ending the instruction of critical race theory in schools. The law states that officials cannot promote material that could “reflect unfairly” upon a certain group or that endorses the use of “discrimination” to achieve diversity – a direct attack on affirmative action.[2] HB 7, alongside other restrictive legislation like the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, has come under heavy critique from opposers, who note not only a clear violation of free speech ideals that conservatives often defend  but also an attempt to “whitewash” history by avoiding subjects like systemic racism and its role in the U.S.[3] Legal professionals have further noted that the vague language in the HB 7 bill is likely intentional, providing deniability for lawmakers and creating confusion for any day-to-day reader.[4] 

II. Free Speech Versus Government Authority

This issue lies in the intersection of free speech rights and the authority of the government to regulate the workplace and some practices of federally funded schools. In instances of hate speech and verbal harassment, there are established precedences regarding the ability of the government to monitor such. Still, there is a lack of precedence regarding states attempting to enact such limits.[5] Through the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment, incorporation indicates that states must follow the same protection of civil liberties outlined in the Bill of Rights, a sentiment upheld by recent Supreme Court decisions like Kennedy v. Bremerton School District. In this case, football coach Joseph Kennedy’s practice of leading prayers for the players of his public high school team was ruled constitutional and protected under his rights as an individual.[6] Through this precedent, we must question whether teachers’ rights to address issues regarding systemic race and sexual orientation would also be considered individual free speech rights.

III. Recent Implications

On October 30, 2023, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held in a 2-1 decision that a group of Floridian college professors and a student could not subpoena documents from legislators that would provide insight into the intentions of HB 7. Prior to this decision, a lower court placed tight regulations on the plaintiffs’ use of subpoenas, saying that the group of professors and a student had little to no rights to issue subpoenas targeting lawmakers. Furthermore, the 11th Circuit Court held that legislators are “entitled to an absolute common law,” which protects them from having to reveal motivation for official actions. This holding has a notable effect on the outcome of discrimination cases following the enactment of HB 7 and similar policies. Intention to discriminate based on race, gender, sexual orientation, or other facet of identity is often key in producing a verdict that favors the plaintiff in legal cases challenging discriminatory laws. Furthermore, plaintiffs in discrimination cases also rely heavily on historical context; however, the Supreme Court held that states must be “cautious” of considering historical context as evidence.[7] The combination of these legal blockades against discrimination suits strengthen the effects of bills like HB 7 and take power from those most impacted.

IV. Conclusion

Overall, the implications of HB 7 extend beyond content restriction in public school classrooms. The “Anti-Woke” legislation was paraded as a way to avoid divisive or upsetting content in the schooling of children but has emerged as a statute for how diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and history classes can be taught. As the issue falls on an intersection between free speech and government regulation, critics have already begun to attack HB 7’s status aligned with the Constitution. Resulting from the confusion of the validity of HB 7 and the intentions in its induction are holdings that limit plaintiffs in discrimination suits. Ultimately, HB 7 will continue to be challenged despite current courts protecting its legislators from revealing their motivation in creating restrictive, targeted laws.

Notes

1. “Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Legislation to Protect Floridians from Discrimination and Woke Indoctrination.” 2022. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. 

2. Katie Reilly. 2022. “Florida's Governor Just Signed the 'Stop Woke Act.' Here's What It Means for Schools.” Time.

3. Reilly, “Florida’s Governor Just Signed the ‘Stop Woke Act.’ Here’s What It Means for Schools.”; Madeleine Carlisle. 2022. “Florida Passed The Don’t Say Gay Bill. Here's What It Means.” Time.

4. Cas Mudde. 2023. “What is behind Ron DeSantis's Stop-Woke Act? | Cas Mudde.” The Guardian. 

5. Kevin D Kelly. n.d. “Florida's “Stop WOKE” Act and Its Potential Impact on DEI Training.” Locke Lord.

6. Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, 597 U.S. 11-32 (2022)

7. Hassan Kanu. 2023. “Lawmakers get broad shield in challenge to Florida's 'anti-woke' law.” Reuters. 

Bibliography

Carlisle, Madeleine. 2022. “Florida Passed The Don’t Say Gay Bill. Here's What It Means.” Time. https://time.com/6155905/florida-dont-say-gay-passed/.

“Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Legislation to Protect Floridians from Discrimination and Woke Indoctrination.” 2022. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. https://www.flgov.com/2022/04/22/governor-ron-desantis-signs-legislation-to-protect-floridians-from-discrimination-and-woke-indoctrination/.

Kanu, Hassan. 2023. “Lawmakers get broad shield in challenge to Florida's 'anti-woke' law.” Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/column-lawmakers-get-broad-shield-challenge-floridas-anti-woke-law-2023-11-02/.

Kelly, Kevin D. n.d. “Florida's “Stop WOKE” Act and Its Potential Impact on DEI Training.” Locke Lord. Accessed November 15, 2023. https://www.lockelord.com/newsandevents/publications/2022/05/floridas-controversial-stop-woke.

Mudde, Cas. 2023. “What is behind Ron DeSantis's Stop-Woke Act? | Cas Mudde.” The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/feb/06/what-is-behind-ron-desantis-stop-woke-act.

Reilly, Katie. 2022. “Florida's Governor Just Signed the 'Stop Woke Act.' Here's What It Means for Schools.” Time. https://time.com/6168753/florida-stop-woke-law/.

Ohio’s Issue 1 and the Future of Constitutional Abortion Access

By: Eliana Aemro Selassie

Edited by: Jared Fischer and Angie Chung

On Tuesday, November 7, Ohio residents voted to adopt abortion access into the state’s constitution. The ballot measure, referred to as Issue 1, has been a contentious topic in Ohio state politics since the reversal of Roe v. Wade in June of 2022. The decision was particularly impactful given that Ohio is considered a conservative state. [1] The overturning of the landmark Supreme Court decision came as a result of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling. [2] The Dobbs ruling granted states greater autonomy over abortion laws, prompting  many liberal states to work to protect abortion access while an increasing number of conservative states are seeking to restrict it . Abortion is currently outlawed in 14 states, leaving pro-abortion activists and politicians looking for ways to protect abortion access as abortion laws have since emerged as the responsibility of state governments. [3] The results of Ohio’s Issue 1 vote provide insight into the nature of constitutional abortion post-Roe v. Wade and the importance of state legislation to protect abortion access.

The outcome of Issue 1 in Ohio is part of a growing phenomenon across the United States where abortion access is being adopted into state constitutions. The overturning of Roe v. Wade has left states with greater control over abortion laws, pushing many state governments to turn to ballot measures like Issue 1 in Ohio to better understand voters’ stances on abortion. The Ohio decision passed by a vote of 57% in favor and 43% against; this signifies that abortion will be considered a state constitutional right in Ohio, making abortion access protected under Ohio state law and granting greater freedom to Ohio residents to access abortion. [4] State constitutions can play a fundamental role in determining the rights of individuals at the state level and can be adeptly amended to enshrine new rights, making them an ideal tool to further protect abortion access after the reversal of Roe v. Wade. 

Several other states have acted to adopt abortion rights into their state constitutions, particularly in liberal states that have moved swiftly to protect abortion rights. Since the reversal of Roe v. Wade, residents have voted in favor of protecting abortion access on all the occasions where abortion has appeared on ballots. [5] Among the six other states that have held votes on whether to enshrine abortion access into state constitutions, all ended favorably to defend abortion access. This was seen in states such as California, Michigan, and Vermont, which passed constitutional amendments in favor of abortion access in 2022. [6] In addition to liberal states, conservative states have also rejected efforts to restrict abortion access, for instance in Kansas and Kentucky. Kansas residents voted against an amendment to the state’s constitution stating that there “was no right to an abortion” in Kansas. [7] Kansas was the first state to have a vote on abortion access since the Dobbs decision, where 59% voted against the amendment and 41% voted in favor. The Kansas decision was particularly pivotal given the state’s majority conservative population. During the 2020 presidential election, Biden only won five of the 105 counties in Kansas;  however, in the recent abortion vote, abortion rights won 19 of the 105 counties in the state. [8] Similarly, in Kentucky, voters rejected a constitutional amendment to permanently ban abortion in December of 2022. They opposed the addition of this amendment because that would allow for trigger laws––implemented immediately after the reversal of Roe v. Wade––to take effect and be protected under the state’s constitution. [9] These votes further indicate how state constitutions can uphold abortion access, even in conservative states, and the influential nature of constitutional amendments. 

Nonetheless, enshrining abortion access into state constitutions still poses a number of challenges, particularly in conservative states. In February 2023, the Kentucky Supreme Court voted in favor of maintaining the state’s strict abortion laws, restricting abortion access almost entirely. This decision came despite voters standing against the restrictive abortion bans, which have now gone into effect against voters’ wishes. [9] The efforts of voters to support abortion access in the state have now been largely ignored by the Kentucky government, illustrating the challenges of effectively implementing abortion rights into state constitutions. Similarly, the recent Ohio decision has faced criticism and efforts to thwart the amendments to the state’s constitution. Ohio lawmakers are working to rid state judges of their ability to interpret the new abortion rights amendment just after the vote in favor of enshrining abortion access. Republican state representatives Jennifer Gross, Bill Dean, Melanie Miller, and Beth Lear are pushing to “remove jurisdiction from the judiciary” in a new anti-abortion initiative. This means the issue will fall onto the Ohio legislature to modify existing laws while taking public hearings and legal input into account. [4] Therefore, there are still a growing number of challenges to constitutionally protected abortion that may arise, particularly in conservative states where the governments may oppose the opinions of voters on abortion issues.

Enshrining abortion access into state constitutions provides states with a medium to effectively protect abortion rights. The consistent success of abortion ballot measures across the nation illustrates the power of individual states to protect abortion access. Furthermore, the autonomy of states over their constitutions provides them with greater decision-making power to solidify abortion as a constitutional right for state residents. These efforts will likely continue to be met by substantial opposition among conservative lawmakers. However, constitutional abortion access can act as a new avenue to protect abortion rights and provide greater hope for abortion rights activists after the tumultuous outcomes of the Dobbs decision. This is particularly significant as a growing number of Democratic representatives and senators in Congress are moving to codify abortion access into federal law but face backlash from their Republican counterparts, implying that protecting abortion access at the state level is an important first step [10]. In the post-Roe v. Wade era, preserving abortion access under state constitutions will likely be a new pathway that residents can employ to ensure their opinions on abortion access are dutifully heard, as well as a strategy legislators can use to protect abortion access under state law.

Notes:

1. Maher, Kris, and Jon Kamp. 2023. “Ohio Voters Enshrine Abortion Access in State Constitution.” The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/election-day-ballots-ohio-abortion-maine-texas-colorado-d9922480. 

2. Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization." Oyez. Accessed November 14, 2023. https://www.oyez.org/cases/2021/19-1392. 

3. “Interactive Map: US Abortion Policies and Access After Roe.” 2023. Interactive Map: US Abortion Policies and Access After Roe | Guttmacher Institute. https://states.guttmacher.org/policies/florida/abortion-statistics.  

4. Hendrickson, Samantha. 2023. “Republican faction seeks to keep courts from interpreting Ohio's new abortion rights amendment.” AP News. https://apnews.com/article/ohio-abortion-overthrow-judicial-powers-77a68c1e6ee6fc79462f6aaf4ea1a323. 

5. Bentahar, Lyna, and David Leonhardt. 2023. “Abortion Access Keeps Winning Elections.” The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/11/briefing/abortion-access-ballots-us-elections.html. 

6. Lerer, Lisa, and Kate Zernike. 2023. “Issue 1: Why Ohio’s Abortion Ballot Question Is Confusing Voters.” The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/02/us/abortion-ballot-ohio-vote.html.  

7. Lysen, Dylan, Laura Ziegler, and Blaise Mesa. 2022. “Results: Kansas voters decide 'no' on the abortion amendment : Live Coverage: 2022 Primaries.” NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/2022-live-primary-election-race-results/2022/08/02/1115317596/kansas-voters-abortion-legal-reject-constitutional-amendment.  

8. Ewall, Sarah. 2022. “How the anti-abortion amendment was defeated in Kansas.” CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kansas-abortion-vote-results-how-amendment-was-defeated/.  

9. McCammon, Sarah. 2023. “Kentucky's Supreme Court keeps abortion bans in place.” NPR. https://www.npr.org/2023/02/16/1156192879/abortion-kentucky-supreme-court-bans-roe-dobbs.  

10. Adler, Libby, Martha Davis, and Wendy Permet. n.d. “Codifying Roe: here are the constitutional challenges a federal law legalizing abortion may face, experts say.” College of Social Sciences and Humanities. Accessed November 14, 2023. https://cssh.northeastern.edu/codifying-roe-here-are-the-constitutional-challenges-a-federal-law-legalizing-abortion-may-face-experts-say/.  

Bibliography:

Adler, Libby, Martha Davis, and Wendy Permet. n.d. “Codifying Roe: here are the constitutional challenges a federal law legalizing abortion may face, experts say.” College of Social Sciences and Humanities. Accessed November 14, 2023. https://cssh.northeastern.edu/codifying-roe-here-are-the-constitutional-challenges-a-federal-law-legalizing-abortion-may-face-experts-say/. 

Bentahar, Lyna, and David Leonhardt. 2023. “Abortion Access Keeps Winning Elections.” The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/11/briefing/abortion-access-ballots-us-elections.html. 

Ewall, Sarah. 2022. “How the anti-abortion amendment was defeated in Kansas.” CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kansas-abortion-vote-results-how-amendment-was-defeated/.  

Hendrickson, Samantha. 2023. “Republican faction seeks to keep courts from interpreting Ohio's new abortion rights amendment.” AP News. https://apnews.com/article/ohio-abortion-overthrow-judicial-powers-77a68c1e6ee6fc79462f6aaf4ea1a323.

Lerer, Lisa, and Kate Zernike. 2023. “Issue 1: Why Ohio’s Abortion Ballot Question Is Confusing Voters.” The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/02/us/abortion-ballot-ohio-vote.html.  

Lysen, Dylan, Laura Ziegler, and Blaise Mesa. 2022. “Results: Kansas voters decide 'no' on the abortion amendment : Live Coverage: 2022 Primaries.” NPR. 

Maher, Kris, and Jon Kamp. 2023. “Ohio Voters Enshrine Abortion Access in State Constitution.” The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/election-day-ballots-ohio-abortion-maine-texas-colorado-d9922480. 

McCammon, Sarah. 2023. “Kentucky's Supreme Court keeps abortion bans in place.” NPR. https://www.npr.org/2023/02/16/1156192879/abortion-kentucky-supreme-court-bans-roe-dobbs.  

"Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization." Oyez. Accessed November 14, 2023. https://www.oyez.org/cases/2021/19-1392. 

“Interactive Map: US Abortion Policies and Access After Roe.” 2023. Interactive Map: US Abortion Policies and Access After Roe | Guttmacher Institute. https://states.guttmacher.org/policies/florida/abortion-statistics.  

Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP: What are the key distinctions between partisan and racial gerrymandering?

By: Pavan Acharya

edited by: Jack Pacconi and micah sandy

This term, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering cases related to social media, maritime law, and gun rights, among other hot-button topics. Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, one of the highest profile cases justices will consider over the coming months, could significantly impact voting rights for non-white voters. The Supreme Court will release its decision on the case next year, which will determine whether South Carolina’s 1st congressional district was racially gerrymandered to benefit Republicans. [1] Gerrymandering refers to the political manipulation of boundaries within an electoral constituency to benefit one party. If justices rule in favor of the state of South Carolina, a likely result given the Court’s 6-3 conservative majority, the Court will allow future redistricting by state legislators and courts that could further limit the voting power of non-white — and specifically Black — voters.

In this case, Justices will determine the validity of a federal district court’s ruling that District 1’s boundaries were a product of gerrymandering. Since South Carolina’s redistricting took place in 2022, Republican Rep. Nancy Mace saw her margin of victory in District 1 increase from 1% in 2020 to 14% in that year’s election. [2] The redistricting had moved 30,000 Black residents — or two-thirds of Black voters in Charleston County — out of Mace’s district and into District 6, represented by Rep. Jim Clyburn, the sole Democrat in South Carolina’s congressional delegation. However, conservative justices on the Court expressed skepticism about the lower court’s decision during the case’s hearing in mid-October, suggesting there was insufficient evidence to support the assertion that the remapped district was a product of racial gerrymandering. If the Supreme Court overturns the decision, then it could create a more defined legal difference between racial and partisan gerrymandering cases, which often yield different rulings from one another.

The Supreme Court has a history of distancing itself from partisan gerrymandering cases, as shown by its past decisions. The high court’s 2019 decision in Rucho v. Common Cause, a landmark Supreme Court case regarding gerrymandering, said, “partisan gerrymandering claims present claims beyond the reach of federal courts.” [3] Though Rucho was a setback for voter’s rights advocates as it determined the Supreme Court cannot rule in solely partisan gerrymandering cases, the Justices have since heard cases related to racial gerrymandering. One of these cases was Allen v. Milligan, a 2022 case in which the plaintiffs contended that Alabama’s 2021 redistricting plan discriminated against Black voters in the state. Though Alabama’s population is around 34% Black, just one district held a Black majority under the 2021 plan. Justices ruled 5-4 in favor of the plaintiffs, agreeing with their assertions that Alabama’s congressional districts violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. [4] For Allen, the Court implemented a three-pronged framework for evaluating claims under Section 2, established in the 1986 case Thornburg v. Gingles. [5] Under the framework, the plaintiffs would have to have proven a minority group is geographically compact and large enough to be a majority in a “reasonably configured district”; is politically cohesive; and does not have equal access to the political process. The three-pronged approach, however, is not expected to be considered in the Court’s forthcoming decision in Alexander since this case concerns potential violations of the Constitution rather than the Voting Rights Act.

Although Alexander is also a racial gerrymander case, the grounds for the case are different. [6] The district court held that South Carolina’s congressional map violated constitutional safeguards against race discrimination rather than Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act itself. Therefore, the three-pronged approach established in Thornburg v. Gingles is irrelevant. Instead, the Court will decide whether the redistricting act was racial or partisan gerrymandering, which the state of South Carolina contends. Though previous Supreme Court decisions have been aimed at preventing discrimination toward voters based on political affiliation, it is unclear whether these protections apply to gerrymanders, racial or partisan. But, if the Supreme Court finds that the gerrymander was solely partisan, the lower court’s ruling will likely be overturned due to the precedent established by Rucho. If the ruling is overturned, the Supreme Court could set a new precedent that racial gerrymandering claims can be averted if the party that created those maps contends that they are the product of “partisan gerrymandering,” as South Carolina did in its arguments. [7] In an amicus brief filed on behalf of the South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, lawyers wrote that “the correlation between race and party does not insulate excessive race-based redistricting decisions from judicial scrutiny.” If the Court rules in favor of South Carolina, then the legal line between race and partisanship may become even more defined.

Notes:

1. Amy Howe. “Justices Question Finding That S.C. District Was Unconstitutional Racial Gerrymander.” SCOTUSblog, October 14, 2023. https://www.scotusblog.com/2023/10/justices-question-finding-that-s-c-district-was-unconstitutional-racial-gerrymander/. 

2. Mark Sherman. “The Supreme Court Signals Support for a Republican-Leaning Congressional District in South Carolina.” AP News, October 11, 2023. https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-redistricting-south-carolina-racial-gerrymander-840b39465b24b8d82b334dda53c908fa. 

3. “Rucho v. Common Cause.” Legal Information Institute. Accessed November 15, 2023. https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/18-422. 

4. “Merrill v. Milligan (Now Allen v. Milligan).” Merrill v. Milligan (now Allen v. Milligan) | League of Women Voters. Accessed November 15, 2023. https://www.lwv.org/legal-center/merrill-v-milligan. 

5. “Allen v. Milligan.” Oyez. Accessed November 15, 2023. https://www.oyez.org/cases/2022/21-1086. 

6. Ian Millhiser. “The High Stakes in a New Supreme Court Showdown over Gerrymandering.” Vox, October 5, 2023. https://www.vox.com/scotus/2023/10/5/23893286/supreme-court-voting-rights-gerrymandering-race-south-carolina-alexander-naacp. 

7. “Friend of the Court Brief - Alexander V. South Carolina State Conference of NAACP.” Campaign Legal Center. Accessed November 15, 2023. https://campaignlegal.org/document/friend-court-brief-alexander-v-south-carolina-state-conference-naacp.

Bibliography:

“Allen v. Milligan.” Oyez. Accessed November 15, 2023. https://www.oyez.org/cases/2022/21-1086. 

“Friend of the Court Brief - Alexander V. South Carolina State Conference of NAACP.” Campaign Legal Center. Accessed November 15, 2023. https://campaignlegal.org/document/friend-court-brief-alexander-v-south-carolina-state-conference-naacp. 

Howe, Amy. “Justices Question Finding That S.C. District Was Unconstitutional Racial Gerrymander.” SCOTUSblog, October 14, 2023. https://www.scotusblog.com/2023/10/justices-question-finding-that-s-c-district-was-unconstitutional-racial-gerrymander/. 

“Merrill v. Milligan (Now Allen v. Milligan).” Merrill v. Milligan (now Allen v. Milligan) | League of Women Voters. Accessed November 15, 2023. https://www.lwv.org/legal-center/merrill-v-milligan. 

Millhiser, Ian. “The High Stakes in a New Supreme Court Showdown over Gerrymandering.” Vox, October 5, 2023. https://www.vox.com/scotus/2023/10/5/23893286/supreme-court-voting-rights-gerrymandering-race-south-carolina-alexander-naacp. 

“Rucho v. Common Cause.” Legal Information Institute. Accessed November 15, 2023. https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/18-422. 

Sherman, Mark. “The Supreme Court Signals Support for a Republican-Leaning Congressional District in South Carolina.” AP News, October 11, 2023. https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-redistricting-south-carolina-racial-gerrymander-840b39465b24b8d82b334dda53c908fa.