The Voting Rights Act, Redistricting, and Indian Land with Prof. Torey Dolan

On Tuesday, Oct. 14, the American Constitution Society (ACS) and Indigenous Law Student Association (ILSA) will host Prof. Torey Dolan to discuss two cases in front of the United States Supreme Court which could determine the future of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Lunch will be provided! 

Louisiana v. Callais was originally argued at the Supreme Court in March 2025 but has been rescheduled for additional argument on Oct. 15 on the issue of whether race conscious redistricting (intentional drawing of additional majority-minority congressional districts) for the purpose of complying with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act violates the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments. Prof. Dolan has filed an amicus brief on behalf of a tribal client in the case.

In Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians v. Howe, the Eighth Circuit held that private plaintiffs (including tribes) lack standing to bring suits to enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, meaning that only the United States Department of Justice may bring suits to enforce Section 2. Historically, 90% of Section 2 cases have been brought by private plaintiffs. The Supreme Court granted the plaintiffs' request for an emergency stay of the Eight Circuit's decision until the petition for certiorari is resolved.

Prof. Torey Dolan is an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin Law School. Her scholarship focuses on Tribal Nations, Democracy, and American Indian self-determination and political actualization in the intersections of Federal Indian Law and Election Law.