SCOTUS Could Be Set to End Key Protection for Minority Voters

The U.S. Supreme Court escalated the high-stakes redistricting battle in Louisiana by ordering new legal briefings on whether intentionally creating a second majority-Black congressional district — to comply with the Voting Rights Act — might violate the U.S. Constitution.

The Court’s order Friday directs both sides to submit supplemental briefs on “whether the State’s intentional creation of a second majority-minority congressional district violates the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.”

The order suggests that the court’s conservative majority could be readying to make a sweeping ruling that creating districts in which minority voters can elect their representatives of choice under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional.

If the Court rejects the idea that the VRA serves a compelling interest, it would become increasingly difficult  to protect minority voting power. 

Previously the Supreme Court has allowed states some “breathing room” to consider race when drafting districts to comply with Section 2 as long as race was not the predominant factor.

The Court’s move comes months after a federal court struck down Louisiana’s remedial congressional map on the grounds that it was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, even though the legislature passed it to fix a prior Voting Rights Act violation.

In Louisiana, Black residents make up nearly one-third of the population, yet were previously able to elect candidates of their choice in just one of six congressional districts. The creation of a second Black-majority district was widely viewed as a minimum requirement for fair representation.