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2d ago

Supreme Court Revisits Constitutionality of Louisiana’s Second Black-Majority District

The court’s order to rebrief Louisiana’s second Black-majority district raises the prospect of undermining Section 2’s core protections for minority voters.

FILE - President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in a ceremony in the President's Room near the Senate chambers in Washington, Aug. 6, 1965. Surrounding the president from left directly above his right hand, Vice President Hubert Humphrey; Speaker John McCormack; Rep. Emanuel Celler, D-N.Y.; Luci Johnson; and Sen. Everett Dirksen, R-Ill. Behind Humphrey is House Majority Leader Carl Albert of Oklahoma; and behind Celler is Sen. Carl Hayden, D-Ariz. (AP Photo, File)
North Dakota Democratic Rep. Jayme Davis poses for a photo in her office with a 2024 campaign sign on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, at Turtle Mountain Administrative Offices on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)

Overview

  • The Supreme Court asked parties in Louisiana v. Callais to file briefs on whether the state’s creation of a second majority-Black congressional district infringes the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments.
  • By revisiting the constitutionality of race-based mapping, the justices appear poised to reevaluate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act without directly citing the statute.
  • Earlier this year the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that private individuals and advocacy groups lack standing to sue under Section 2, sharply curtailing a primary enforcement tool.
  • Under Attorney General Pam Bondi, the Justice Department has pulled back from civil-rights enforcement and dropped multiple voting-rights cases in favor of voter fraud probes.
  • Experts warn that declaring majority-minority districts unconstitutional could upend dozens of such districts nationwide, jeopardizing minority representation ahead of the midterms.