Overview

• The Supreme Court directed new briefing in Louisiana v. Callais on whether the state’s new majority-minority congressional map conflicts with the 14th or 15th Amendments.
• The order signals the justices’ intention to revisit or potentially curtail Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which allows private suits against racial vote dilution.
• Louisiana’s current map, adopted after a court struck down its previous plan for packing Black voters, established two majority-Black opportunity districts.
• Self-identified non-African American challengers argue that drawing districts on the basis of race breaches equal-protection guarantees and violates the Voting Rights Act.
• Legal experts warn that declaring race-based districts unconstitutional could effectively undercut the primary enforcement mechanism for minority voters contesting discriminatory redistricting.