By Luena Rodriguez-Feo Vileira, Drew Callister, Bridget Brown, Curtis Yee and Aisha I. Jefferson
The Supreme Court on April 29 struck down Louisiana’s second majority Black congressional district in a decision that could open the door for Republican-led states to eliminate Black and Latino electoral districts that tend to favor Democrats and affect the balance of power in Congress.
In a 6-3 ruling, the court’s conservative majority found that the district, represented by Democrat Cleo Fields, relied too heavily on race. Chief Justice John Roberts had described the district as a “snake” that stretches more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) to link parts of the Shreveport, Alexandria, Lafayette and Baton Rouge areas.
“The Voting Rights Act as a means to protect minority voters from vote dilution is essentially dead,” said Jonathan Cervas, a political scientist at Carnegie-Mellon University who’s served as a special master in multiple Voting Rights Act cases.
What is the Voting Rights Act?
The 1965 Voting Rights Act, the centerpiece legislation of the Civil Rights Movement, succeeded in opening the ballot box to Black Americans and reducing persistent racial discrimination in voting. Nearly 70 of the 435 congressional districts are protected by Section 2, election law expert Nicholas Stephanopoulos has estimated.
What could happen next?
It’s unclear how much is left of the provision, known as Section 2, but the ruling could open the door for Republican-led states to eliminate Black and Latino electoral districts that tend to favor Democrats and affect the balance of power in Congress. President Donald Trump has already touched off a nationwide redistricting battle to boost Republican chances.
What was the argument?
The plaintiffs had argued that Louisiana’s second Black-majority congressional district, drawn to correct a map that had been found to violate the Voting Rights Act, has an unconstitutional racial basis and did not follow the standards for drawing a district, including compactness.
Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) and members of the Congressional Black Caucus issued the following statement on the Supreme Court’s decision:
“One of the most enduring myths about American democracy is that it has always been fully formed and equally accessible—but the truth is far more complicated. Since our nation declared independence nearly 250 years ago, the promise of democracy has been incomplete, expanding only through struggle, resistance, and the insistence of those it excluded.
The truth is that our nation was not yet a true multi-racial democracy until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 finally enforced the 15th Amendment, opening the door for Black and minority Americans to cast their ballots on Election Day. This landmark legislation was not given freely; it was fought for, organized for, litigated for, and ultimately won through the blood and sacrifices of Black men and women who demanded better of their country.
Today, just 60 years later, with the stroke of a pen, this rogue, unaccountable Court has effectively signed the death certificate of the Voting Rights Act, undoing decades of Black progress. Without the protections of the VRA, Republicans now have the ability to move forward with a nationwide scheme to rig congressional maps in their favor—to manufacture more districts for themselves by eliminating majority-Black districts, while stripping away the ability to challenge those racist, anti-Black maps in court.
This decision undermines the clear intent of Congress, which established that fair and equal representation is a cornerstone of our democracy, and could open the door for sweeping redistricting changes in the South. Instead, your representatives in Congress can be chosen by the state and imposed on you. Not since Jim Crow have we seen this level of systematic disenfranchisement of Black voters.
We did not arrive at this moment blindly. For years, we have warned that the steady erosion of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 would lead to exactly this outcome. That is why we have been preparing—organizing in our communities, building legal strategies, and advancing legislation—to meet this moment head-on.
The legitimacy of the Supreme Court has been deeply undermined by this decision. At its best, the Court has worked to expand our fundamental rights, but this ruling reflects a malignant impulse to reshape American society—one governed not by liberty or law, but by ideology imposed from the bench.
It is beyond dismay that the Court once led by Thurgood Marshall, which helped define the meaning of constitutional liberty through decisions like Brown v. Board of Education, which dismantled “separate but equal”; Miranda v. Arizona, which protected the rights of the accused; and New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, which fortified freedom of speech and the press, has now laid to rest the foundation on which our representative democracy stands: the promise that the power to choose one’s representatives lies with the people.
We are left with no other choice. The CBC is willing to take any measure necessary to bring a legislative solution to the floor to protect Black voters around the country from this extremist effort to diminish Black voices and access to fair representation. We are demanding a vote on the John Lewis Voting Rights Act without delay.
Our nation’s highest court has been compromised. The CBC will make it our mission to aggressively advance Supreme Court reform. We will work to establish term limits for justices to help restore independence, neutrality, and legitimacy to the Court. We must do all in our power to protect voters from race-based discrimination and set minimum standards that ensure all Americans can participate in free and fair elections.
To be clear: It is not just on Black communities to carry the burden of an extremist, right-wing government that sees our rights, humanity, and belonging in democracy as optional at best, and disposable at worst. Our democracy’s best hope is that every American of good will stands up and says enough is enough. This fight is just getting started, and we will not be moved.
Our presence at the ballot box in November must be overwhelming. We must become too big to rig so that we take back the House and Senate to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act—and go even further, toward stronger, more comprehensive protections that meet the scale of this moment. We will organize, litigate, and mobilize until the promise of this democracy is not just defended, but fully realized for everyone.”
This article was originally published by The Associated Press.