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The old adage about America’s legal system has often been “Anyone can sue anyone.” But three federal judges don’t think much of that idiom and, in fact, have determined that someone who feels they were discriminated against or denied the right to vote can’t sue at all.

It’s another stark warning of how our democracy is under threat.

A federal district judge in Arkansas rejected the idea that civil rights groups or individuals could sue under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act that prohibits discrimination in voting laws based on race. In February 2022 Arkansas federal district judge and Trump appointee Lee P. Rudofsky, ruled that “only the attorney general of the United States may bring suit” to enforce Section 2, according to a report in The New York Times.

Rudofsky argued because the “private right of action” was not specifically detailed in the law, no such right existed and only the U.S. attorney general could sue under Section 2. The Eight Circuit District Appeals Court agreed, again citing no specific language, despite many such suits being brought over the years.

Another Trump appointee, Appeals Court Judge David Stras, who is from Minnesota, agreed the language for private action was not specified in the Voting Rights Act, saying it’s not there in “text or structure.”

But proponents of the right to sue pointed to congressional committee statements when the law was amended in 1982 that the intent was to allow groups and individuals to bring suit.

The U.S. Supreme Court is likely to hear the case, but one cannot judge which way this volatile court will go. It has ruled favorable for civil rights groups challenging political gerrymandering of the law, including a recent case where the court called for Alabama to redraw discriminatory congressional district maps. But the Supreme Court has also ruled as unconstitutional part of the law that required states that had discriminatory voting practices to have changes to their voting laws approved by the federal government.

Unfortunately federal judges are appointed for life and do not stand for election. So there is no way for citizens to use their vote to affect the decisions of those who would have the power to reduce voting rights.

It’s threatening to democracy that laws protecting fundamental voting rights are now deemed invalid not by reason or evidence, but by a judge’s decision to ignore precedent.

— Mankato Free Press, Nov. 22