Maureen Edobor Publishes “Brnovich: Extratextual Textualism” in the Penn Journal of Constitutional Law The article examines a key U.S. Supreme Court decision focused on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

By Law Communications
February 19, 2025

Washington and Lee law professor Maureen Edobor has published an article in the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law. The article, “Brnovich:  Extratextual Textualism,” provides a comprehensive analysis of Brnovich v. Democratic National Convention, which purports to create a new standard for Section 2 claims under the Voting Rights Act.

“In Brnovich, the Court effectively nullifies the VRA’s Section 2 by erecting ultra vires legal standards and ‘guideposts’ to evaluate voting qualifications, prerequisites, standards, practices, and procedures which were intended to, and do have a disparate impact and discriminatory effect on VRA protected classes. The Court’s newly created ‘guideposts’ are not based on the rich legislative history of the Fifteenth Amendment or Voting Rights Act and its five subsequent bipartisan reauthorizations through 2006 or properly applied canons of statutory interpretation. Instead, these ‘guideposts’ are judicially fabricated to end the so-called ‘racial entitlement’ the Act purportedly creates, bearing little resemblance to the Fifteenth Amendment’s original racial equity purpose and the Court’s prior legal precedents,” write Edobor.

In her article, Edobor goes on to advocate for a constitutional amendment to cement the right to vote as a fundamental right subject to strict scrutiny analysis in Constitutional jurisprudence.

The full article is available online at the W&L Law Scholarly Commons.

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