Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
N

Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Holder

129 S. Ct. 2504 (2009)

From our private database of 46,500+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Holder

United States Supreme Court
129 S. Ct. 2504 (2009)

Facts

Northwest Austin Municipal District Number One (the district) (plaintiff) was a small utility district with an elected board. Because the district was located in Texas and its board was elected, it was required to seek preclearance pursuant to § 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 before it could change its election rules. The district sued pursuant to the Voting Rights Act’s § 4 bailout provision, seeking release from the preclearance requirement. In support of its suit, the district argued there was no evidence that voter discrimination had ever occurred in the district. The district court denied the bailout request, reasoning that bailouts are unavailable to political subdivisions that, like the district, do not register their own voters. The district appealed, arguing that the Voting Rights Act does not limit bailouts in this manner and challenging the constitutionality of § 5. The United States Supreme Court declined to reach the constitutional issue and instead addressed the statutory issue.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Roberts, C.J.)

Concurrence/Dissent (Thomas, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 832,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,500 briefs - keyed to 994 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Civil Rights

Key Terms