Supreme Court guts VRA Section 2 in 6-3 Louisiana redistricting ruling

In Louisiana v. Callais, the Supreme Court rules 6-3 along ideological lines that Louisiana's 2024 congressional map — which created a second majority-Black district to comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act — is an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. Justice Samuel Alito writes the majority opinion, joined by Roberts, Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett. The case arose after federal courts found Louisiana's original 2022 map likely violated Section 2, since it included only one majority-Black district in a state where Black residents make up 30% of the population. Louisiana drew a remedial map in 2024 adding a second majority-Black district, leading to the election of Rep. Cleo Fields. A group of "non-African-American voters" then challenged that new map as racial gerrymandering. Alito writes that compliance with Section 2 could not justify race-based redistricting. Justice Elena Kagan dissents, joined by the two other liberal justices: "Today's decision renders Section 2 all but a dead letter." Hours after the ruling, Florida lawmakers pass a new congressional map targeting additional Republican-leaning districts. Redistricting experts expect Republican-led legislatures across the South to redraw or eliminate majority-minority districts currently held by Black members of Congress.