The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Wednesday that Louisiana’s redrawn congressional map, which created a second majority-Black district, was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, delivering a landmark decision that narrows how states can use race in redistricting under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the conservative majority, held that the Voting Rights Act did not require Louisiana to draw the additional majority-minority district and remanded the case for further proceedings.
Justice Elena Kagan fired back in dissent, warning that the ruling would gut the law’s protections for minority voters. Democratic officials immediately branded the decision an assault on civil rights. But the ruling itself rests on a straightforward constitutional principle: the government cannot sort citizens into congressional districts by race unless it has a compelling reason to do so, and the Court found Louisiana did not.
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