Latest / INSIGHT TODAY / Preserving Black voting districts a 'commitment to multiracial democracy,' LDF lawyer says
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Okay, make ten seconds, so.
- 0:36Speaker 2: I just go, oh, good afternoon. I'm Janay Nelson, President
- 0:40Speaker 2: and Director Counsel of the Legal Defenseman. We're just leaving
- 0:44Speaker 2: the court after arguing Louisiana versus Kela, where the Court
- 0:49Speaker 2: asks some very challenging questions about the future of Section two.
- 0:54Speaker 2: We feel confident that if the court relies on its precedent,
- 0:57Speaker 2: if it continues to have a commitment to the fifteenth
- 1:01Speaker 2: Amendment and to this project of multi racial democracy, that
- 1:05Speaker 2: it will rule in our favor. There has been no
- 1:08Speaker 2: change in conditions for the laws sex. It decided Alan
- 1:14Speaker 2: versus Milligan a mere twenty eight months ago, where the
- 1:18Speaker 2: Court reaffirmed the constitutionality of Section two, where the Court
- 1:22Speaker 2: rejected many of the specious arguments that our opponents have
- 1:26Speaker 2: asserted on this second argument of the case, and so
- 1:30Speaker 2: we feel very confident that the law is absolutely on
- 1:34Speaker 2: our side. I want to take a moment, though, to
- 1:36Speaker 2: thank our plaintiffs who have continued this fight. This battle
- 1:41Speaker 2: not only for fair congressional maps in the state of Louisiana,
- 1:44Speaker 2: but fair legislative.
- 1:45Speaker 1: Maps, fair judicial maps.
- 1:47Speaker 2: It takes the will and spirit and courage of everyday
- 1:51Speaker 2: people and voters to put themselves on the line, to
- 1:54Speaker 2: commit themselves to often a very long and protracted project
- 1:59Speaker 2: of ensure our democracy. And while we are fighting for
- 2:03Speaker 2: the rights for black voters in Louisiana and across the
- 2:07Speaker 2: country to have an equal opportunity to participate in our
- 2:11Speaker 2: electoral process, that win is a win for democracy, It
- 2:15Speaker 2: is a win for all Americans. It is a win
- 2:18Speaker 2: for the rule of law. And that is why we
- 2:21Speaker 2: fight because we believe in the future of this country
- 2:24Speaker 2: and we believe that black people have a right to
- 2:27Speaker 2: be part of it and to self determine who will
- 2:30Speaker 2: represent them and to be part of the future of
- 2:34Speaker 2: this country. And that is what Section two of the
- 2:37Speaker 2: Voting Rights Act secures. And I'm happy to take your questions, yes,
- 2:46Speaker 2: if your question is the broader implications of this ruler.
- 2:53Speaker 2: My hope is that this will put to bed the
- 2:55Speaker 2: constant efforts to undermine Section two of the Voting Rights
- 2:59Speaker 2: Act and the Voting Rights as a whole. There are
- 3:01Speaker 2: constant challenges to its constitutionality. There are ways in which
- 3:05Speaker 2: those states who are recalcitrant and do not want to
- 3:09Speaker 2: abide by the Constitution try to litigate every factor of
- 3:13Speaker 2: Section two and of our voting rights jurisprudence. I hope
- 3:17Speaker 2: that the Court writes a decision that is firm, that
- 3:20Speaker 2: is air tight, and that forecloses any future challenges on
- 3:23Speaker 2: those lines.
- 3:26Speaker 3: Yeah, you have.
- 3:27Speaker 1: Confident want in underside this the conservative port that showed
- 3:31Speaker 1: some skills.
- 3:31Speaker 3: If you're not explore your.
- 3:33Speaker 2: Pastor were you confident there on your side of this.
- 3:37Speaker 2: I know that the court issued an extraordinary decision in
- 3:40Speaker 2: a case that we argued Alan versus Milligan and one
- 3:44Speaker 2: even when people made the very same argument that this
- 3:47Speaker 2: court would not necessarily rule in our favor. We have
- 3:50Speaker 2: every confidence that this court will do its job, will
- 3:54Speaker 2: follow starry decisives and understands the import of this case,
- 3:58Speaker 2: particularly in this political context where it's legitimacy matters most.
- 4:05Speaker 3: Okay, sim question, and then we're going to the press, patron, Yes,
- 4:13Speaker 3: fact second property quantify all different in the Advantage Paper
- 4:22Speaker 3: Louisiana and other websas how we we solve backwary.
- 4:24Speaker 2: To Well, we're a nonpartisan organization. We bring this case
- 4:28Speaker 2: on behalf of voters, regardless of who they vote for
- 4:31Speaker 2: or what party they may or may not be affiliated with.
- 4:34Speaker 2: What we care about is the right of every person
- 4:37Speaker 2: to be able to vote without dilution, without discrimination, and
- 4:40Speaker 2: that is our primary concern. We are not concerned with
- 4:43Speaker 2: the objectives of political parties
- 5:01Speaker 1: Assass