What Happens In Tennessee Won't Stay in Tennessee

JACKSON, Miss. – The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Mississippi, Legal Defense Fund (LDF), and NAACP today moved to intervene on behalf of the DeSoto County NAACP and the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. in Foster v. Mississippi, a lawsuit seeking to eliminate the only majority-Black judicial district in DeSoto County, Mississippi. Black people make up about 36% of the county’s population, and that percentage has grown significantly in recent decades. The above civil rights groups are seeking to intervene in the case to defend the lone, Black-majority judicial subdistrict. The district provides the only meaningful opportunity for Black voters to elect candidates of their choice in Desoto County, which has a longstanding pattern of racially polarized voting. On July 2, white voters in the county filed this lawsuit and asked the court to strike down the majority-Black judicial subdistrict, mere weeks before mail-in voting begins. The plaintiffs claim that the electoral scheme is unconstitutional, but the intervening civil rights groups maintain that the plaintiffs are distorting the scope of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais. In Callais, the Supreme Court confirmed that the use of race to draw Black-majority districts remains constitutional when required by Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Almost all judgeships in DeSoto County are elected countywide, effectively giving Black voters no opportunity to elect their preferred candidates. Dismantling the subdistrict would shut out the Black residents of DeSoto County – the county with the highest rate of growth in its Black population in the State of Mississippi – from representation on the circuit and chancery courts. "This lawsuit would erase Black voters’ ability to be heard in judicial elections in DeSoto County," said Ming Cheung, senior staff attorney with the ACLU's Voting Rights Project. "We are intervening to ensure that all residents of DeSoto County can fairly participate in elections." “Black voters in DeSoto County make up over one-third of the County’s population. We are seeking to ensure all voters have the ability to elect candidates of their choice in DeSoto County,” said Joshua Tom, Legal Director at the ACLU of Mississippi. “Black voters in DeSoto county have endured decades of racial discrimination in voting, but this sole majority-Black subdistrict provides them with a fair opportunity to make their voices heard in judicial elections,” said Sara Rohani, assistant counsel at the Legal Defense Fund. “To strike the district down would be a disservice to the promise of the Voting Rights Act. The intervenors in this case implore the court to uphold the voting rights of DeSoto residents that are protected by federal law.” “This lawsuit is a direct attempt to dilute Black political power and reverse decades of hard-fought civil rights progress in Mississippi,” said Anthony P. Ashton, Senior Associate General Counsel at the NAACP. “Majority-Black judicial districts ensure that marginalized communities have a seat at the table in our legal system. We will not stand by while representation of DeSoto County’s Black residents is under attack.” Read the intervention brief and proposed response to motion for preliminary injunction.

WASHINGTON — In response to President Trump's remarks this evening, Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Project, issued the following statement: "Once again, President Trump is attempting to undermine public confidence in our elections by repeating blatant, outlandish lies. He promised the nation ‘really big news,’ and instead used a primetime spot to spew the same tired rhetoric to shake Americans’ confidence in their own elections. “Our democracy depends on voters having confidence that election outcomes are determined by ballots — not by conspiracy theories or efforts to rewrite history. Americans deserve leaders who strengthen our elections by respecting the rule of law and the will of the people, not by attacking the very systems that make self-government possible. “The Constitution does not give any president the authority to substitute their political will for the votes cast by eligible Americans. Election officials, courts, and communities across the country have long demonstrated that our elections are secure because they are administered through layers of safeguards, transparency, and accountability. “At the ACLU, we remain focused on protecting every voter's freedom to participate in our democracy. We will continue using every tool we have — from litigation to organizing — to make sure the will of the voters, not manufactured doubt, decides who governs."

WASHINGTON — In 2026, the American Civil Liberties Union will make its largest-ever investment in down ballot races, marking a historic escalation in its “Firewall for Freedom” strategy to protect civil liberties across the country. As part of this new campaign, the ACLU will spend $25.5 million across underfunded but critical state-level campaigns with an outsized impact on American’s rights and freedoms, from key ballot initiatives to state Supreme Court races, secretaries of state races, and state legislative races. “The ACLU and our millions of supporters across the country have been at the forefront of the fight to protect Americans’ civil rights and liberties, but these freedoms remain under attack both at the federal level and in the states. We need to fight back,” said Deirdre Schifeling, ACLU chief political and advocacy officer. “The Firewall for Freedom campaign will allow the ACLU to stop efforts to restrict reproductive and voting rights and protect our democracy at every level of the ballot. We see where the threats are emerging, and we and our supporters are ready to respond. This is our largest-ever down ballot effort with plans to contact hundreds of thousands of voters across our key states to help protect our fundamental rights and freedoms.” In recent campaign cycles, the ACLU and ACLU Foundation together have emerged as the largest institutional player in the ballot measure space on issues of reproductive freedom and democracy, with notable victories in Arizona, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Michigan, Montana, and Ohio. The ACLU and ACLU Voter Education Fund together have also become one of the biggest spenders in state Supreme Court races. Meanwhile state and local offices have proven increasingly decisive in determining the future of key rights and liberties, including voting rights, abortion access, and LGBTQ rights. This new $25.5 million campaign is a response to the new threats to civil liberties emerging at every level of the ballot and will be complemented by the ACLU’s national organizing infrastructure that helps educate voters and mobilize communities. Working with the ACLU’s 54 affiliates, the ACLU and the ACLU Foundation will work to beat back ballot measures aimed at overturning hard-fought victories to protect abortion rights and overturning the will of the people, as well as investing in initiatives to protect state courts from politicized judicial selections. The ACLU and ACLU Voter Education Fund will educate voters about important state Supreme Court races that impact civil rights and freedoms and equip them with information about how supermajorities in state legislatures can impact civil liberties across the country. The Firewall for Freedom effort will target the following races, ensuring they have the resources to educate voters to make informed decisions when so many resources are flooding into federal campaigns: Seven ballot measures addressing civil liberties in Montana, Kansas, Missouri, and Virginia. Supreme Court races in Michigan, Montana, and North Carolina. State legislative races in Georgia, Michigan, Montana and North Carolina. Secretary of state races in Arizona and Nevada.

We are spending millions across nine states to educate voters on critical races and ballot measures affecting abortion, LGBTQ rights, voting, fair courts, and democracy protections in the 2026 midterm elections.