Particle.news
Download on the App Store
14 ARTICLES
·
last mo.

Supreme Court Signals Limits on Voting Rights Act’s Section 2 in Louisiana Redistricting Case

A ruling next summer could reset redistricting standards nationwide, potentially shifting the balance of the U.S. House.

FILE - State troopers swing billy clubs to break up a civil rights voting march in Selma, Ala., March 7, 1965. (AP Photo, File)
People gather outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, U.S., June 29, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt/File Photo
FILE - President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 on Aug. 6, 1965, in a ceremony in the President's Room at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo, File)
Voting rights activists gather outside the Supreme Court in Washington, early Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025, as the justices prepare to take up a major Republican-led challenge to the Voting Rights Act, the centerpiece legislation of the Civil Rights Movement. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Overview

  • During reargument, conservative justices questioned race-conscious remedies and suggested partisan objectives may serve as valid defenses, reflecting skepticism toward the current Section 2 framework.
  • The Trump Justice Department backed white plaintiffs and proposed a narrower test that prioritizes so‑called race‑neutral principles and raises plaintiffs’ burdens, with DOJ lawyer Hashim Mooppan urging limits on when race can drive map drawing.
  • Louisiana added a second majority‑Black district after a lower court found the prior map likely diluted Black voting power, and white voters then sued to block the remedial map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.
  • Analyses by Fair Fight Action and Black Voters Matter estimate that curbing Section 2 could let Republicans redraw roughly 19 House districts and reduce minority representation, including potential declines in the Black and Hispanic caucuses.
  • Advocates and lawmakers rallied after arguments and warned of long‑term consequences, while court watchers note the justices may stop short of striking Section 2 outright yet still make such claims far harder to win.