How Far Did the Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act Decision Go?
The 6-3 ruling requires proof of intentional discrimination and makes it harder to create majority-minority districts, voting-rights advocates said.
- On Wednesday, the Supreme Court struck down Louisiana's congressional map in a 6-3 ruling, invalidating a majority-Black district. Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the majority, holding the Voting Rights Act now requires proof of intentional discrimination.
- Alito argued the long-standing Gingles test needed updating to reflect the past 40 years of American social changes. The decision makes it harder for minority groups to challenge election maps by requiring them to disentangle race from partisanship.
- Justice Elena Kagan, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson, warned the majority opinion rendered the 1965 law "all but a dead letter." The American Civil Liberties Union contended the ruling returns the nation to a Jim Crow era.
- Hours after the ruling, the Florida Legislature approved a new congressional map proposed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The map targets incumbent Democrats representing majority-minority districts, illustrating the immediate practical impact of the Court's lowered standard.
- States are increasingly pursuing their own protections; Maryland passed Senate Bill 255 this month, becoming a state enacting a Voting Rights Act. Virginia Delegate Marcia Price, who sponsored her state's 2021 legislation, described such measures as a "labor of love.
15 Articles
15 Articles
The Voting Rights Act, one of the most enduring fruits of the civil rights era, prohibited in 1965 racist politicians in the South of the United States from wiping out the suffrage of Black citizens. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority completed the task of demolishing that rule, which had already been seriously wounded by two earlier sentences. The new ruling declared unconstitutional the design of Louisiana’s second Af…
Dem issues dark warning as Supreme Court delivers 'a devastating blow' to Americans
A Democratic Congresswoman issued a dark warning on Saturday after the Supreme Court delivered "a devastating blow" to Americans in its latest decision. Last week, the Supreme Court invalidated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in its opinion in Louisiana v. Callais. The ruling effectively paved th...
What did the U.S. Supreme Court change in Louisiana?
Why did Louisiana redraw districts, creating a new Black-majority district? How did Louisiana’s situation bring two legal problems into direct collision? What did the Court decide about the Voting Rights Act? What are the implications and concerns?
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