Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 v. Holder

Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 v. Holder
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 29, 2009 Decided June 22, 2009
Full case name	Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 v. Eric Holder, Attorney General
Docket no.	08-322
Citations	557 U.S. 193 (more) 129 S. Ct. 2504; 174 L. Ed. 2d 140; 2009 U.S. LEXIS 4539; 77 U.S.L.W. 4539; 21 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 965
Holding
Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 stands, but districts should be better able to "bail out" of it per Section 4(a).
Court membership
Chief Justice John Roberts Associate Justices John P. Stevens · Antonin Scalia Anthony Kennedy · David Souter Clarence Thomas · Ruth Bader Ginsburg Stephen Breyer · Samuel Alito
Case opinions
Majority	Roberts, joined by Stevens, Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer, Alito
Concur/dissent	Thomas

Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 v. Holder, 557 U.S. 193 (2009), was a decision of the United States Supreme Court regarding Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and in particular its requirement that proposed electoral-law changes in certain states must be approved by the federal government. In a 9–0 decision, the Court concluded that the district was eligible to apply for an exemption (bailout) from this section per Section 4(a), because the definition of "political subdivision" in Section 14(c)(2) included a district of this nature. In an 8–1 opinion, the Court declined to rule on the constitutionality of that provision, citing the principle of constitutional avoidance.