A U.S. District Court judge ruled last week that the system of electing school board members in the Ferguson-Florissant, Mo., district deprives African-Americans of an “equal opportunity” to elect representatives of their choice to the school board and violates the Voting Rights Act.
Judge Rodney W. Sippel barred the district from holding elections until a system addressing the “current inequities” is properly implemented.
The ruling stems from a 2014 lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the Missouri chapter of the NAACP and three residents. The lawsuit charged that the voting process in the district reduces the opportunity for African-Americans to be elected to the school board.
