The Supreme Court just ruled by a vote of 6-3 that the Louisiana congressional map, which added a second black district in 2024 based on the Voting Rights Act, is an unconstitutionally racial gerrymander. Meaning the districts were drawn on the basis of race and the Supreme Court struck the map down.
Here’s more from Amy Howe at Scotusblog:
A group of voters describing themselves as “non African American” had challenged the map that the state drew in 2024 after a federal court struck down the previous map on the ground that the previous map violated the Voting Rights Act.
The court rules that the 2024 map, which created a second majority-black district, was “an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.”
The court does not strike down Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act as unconstitutional.
In his majority opinion, Justice Alito writes: “Compliance with Section 2, as properly construed, can provide such a reason. Correctly understood, Section 2 does not impose liability at odds with the Constitution, and it should not have imposed liability on Louisiana for its 2022 map. Compliance with Section 2 thus could not justify the State’s use of race-based redistricting here.”
This ruling appears to just apply to Louisiana and does not more broadly strike down Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. However this does limit how the Voting Rights Act can be used – or can’t be used in this instance, which is to create districts on the basis of race. Big loss for Democrats.
Here is the ruling if you want to read it:
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