{"id":2499350,"date":"2025-10-15T17:25:01","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T21:25:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gorsuch-gets-naacp-lawyer-to-back-race-discrimination-in-redistricting\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T17:26:37","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T21:26:37","slug":"gorsuch-gets-naacp-lawyer-to-back-race-discrimination-in-redistricting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gorsuch-gets-naacp-lawyer-to-back-race-discrimination-in-redistricting\/","title":{"rendered":"Gorsuch Gets NAACP Lawyer To Back Race Discrimination In Redistricting"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgorsuch-gets-naacp-lawyer-to-back-race-discrimination-in-redistricting%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2499350&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in the cases *Louisiana v. Callais* and *Robinson v. Callais*, which challenge Louisiana&#8217;s use of race in redistricting to create a second <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/michael-barone-in-systemically-racist-america-lots-of-whites-vote-for-blacks\/\" title=\"Michael Barone: In \u201cSystemically Racist\u201d America, Lots of Whites Vote for Blacks\">majority-black congressional district<\/a>. The controversy stems from weather this map, intended as a remedy for prior racial vote dilution under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, violates the 14th Amendment&#8217;s Equal Protection clause by prioritizing race.<\/p>\n<p>During the hearings, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch questioned Janai Nelson, an attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, about whether it is indeed legally acceptable for courts or states to intentionally discriminate based on race in remedial redistricting maps. Nelson acknowledged that while intentional racial discrimination is generally impermissible, there may be rare cases where limited use of race is necessary to remedy proven discrimination, as constrained by the Court&#8217;s prior decisions and strict scrutiny standards.<\/p>\n<p>Gorsuch pressed further to clarify if states have more latitude to use race intentionally in their maps than federal courts do. Nelson responded that states do have &#8220;breathing room&#8221; to use race to address their own discrimination, though she denied that this constitutes outright intentional discrimination.<\/p>\n<p>Justice brett Kavanaugh also sought clarification and Nelson confirmed that while courts can intentionally consider race in remedial maps if needed, there are frequently enough many alternatives that avoid doing so.<\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court has yet to issue a ruling and will rehear the case in the upcoming term, focusing on whether Louisiana&#8217;s creation of a second <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >majority-minority district violates constitutional protections<\/a> against racial discrimination. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pro-life-group-accused-of-deceiving-donors-and-actively-working-to-keep-abortion-legal\/\" title=\"Pro-Life Group Accused of &#039;Deceiving Donors and Actively Working to Keep Abortion Legal&#039;\">debate highlights ongoing tensions<\/a> over the role of race in electoral districting and the balance between remedying past discrimination and avoiding unconstitutional racial classifications.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES &mdash; Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch got a lawyer for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to all but admit support for states intentionally discriminating on the basis of race in the redistricting process.<\/p>\n<p>The moment came during the Supreme Court&rsquo;s Wednesday <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/program\/public-affairs-event\/supreme-court-hears-case-on-racial-gerrymandering-voting-rights\/664542\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">oral arguments<\/a> for a pair of cases known as <em>Louisiana v. Callais<\/em> and <em>Robinson v. Callais<\/em>, which center on the Louisiana Legislature&rsquo;s use of race when creating its recent congressional map. <\/p>\n<p>As The Federalist previously <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/06\/27\/scotus-punts-louisiana-redistricting-case-to-next-term\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>, the matter first arose &ldquo;following &lsquo;a previous lawsuit &hellip; where plaintiffs argued that the prior map&rsquo; put forward by the state &lsquo;violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by diluting minority votes,&rsquo; according to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.oyez.org\/cases\/2025\/24-109\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Oyez<\/a>.&rdquo; A district court order and subsequent legal battle prompted the Louisiana Legislature to &ldquo;draft a new map last year &lsquo;that included a second majority-black district,&rsquo; which plaintiffs in&nbsp;<em>Louisiana v. Callais<\/em>&nbsp;contend violates the 14th Amendment&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/constitution.congress.gov\/constitution\/amendment-14\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">equal protection clause<\/a>&nbsp;by &lsquo;prioritizing race in its creation.&rsquo;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>While the Supreme Court was initially supposed to issue a verdict on the matter during its 2024-2025 term, the court announced on the last day of the session that it would be rehearing arguments in the case this fall. The justices notably <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/09\/30\/the-federalists-guide-to-the-2025-supreme-court-term\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">issued<\/a> an order over the summer instructing parties in the case to address the question of &ldquo;[w]hether [Louisiana&rsquo;s] intentional creation of a second&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-federalists-guide-to-the-2025-supreme-court-term\/\" title=\"The Federalist&#039;s Guide To The 2025 ... Term\">majority-minority congressional district&#038;nbsp<\/a>;violates the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p><strong>[READ:[READ:<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/09\/30\/the-federalists-guide-to-the-2025-supreme-court-term\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Federalist&rsquo;s Guide To The 2025 Supreme Court Term<\/a>]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>During his line of questioning, Gorsuch probed NAACP Legal Defense Fund lawyer Janai Nelson &mdash; who argued in favor of a second majority-black district in Louisiana &mdash; about whether she believes &ldquo;a plaintiff in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/crt\/section-2-voting-rights-act\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Section 2<\/a> [Voting Rights Act]  case has to come up with a map where race isn&rsquo;t the predominant factor in the map, or is it OK for a federal court to use a map, on the remedial side, that intentionally discriminates on the basis of race?&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>Nelson noted that &ldquo;you do not have to use race to create the remedy in a map,&rdquo; which prompted the Trump appointee to interject and clarify that what he&rsquo;s asking is &ldquo;whether one can,&rdquo; and whether it is &ldquo;acceptable under Section 2, as you understand it given our precedents, for a court to intentionally discriminate in a remedial map on the basis of race.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Not in those words. Not for a court to intentionally discriminate, but I think it depends. There may be a circumstance where the only possible remedy is the limited use of race,&rdquo; Nelson replied. &ldquo;I will say that I think those circumstances are rare, and the permissibility of race is constrained by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/wex\/strict_scrutiny\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">strict scrutiny<\/a>. This court has a very clear precedent around ensuring that race does not motivate the line-drawer in a way that requires a map to be drawn that isn&rsquo;t narrowly tailored, that uses race for race&rsquo;s sake. There are already constraints between[[<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oyez.org\/cases\/1985\/83-1968\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Thornburg v. Gingles<\/a><\/em>]and[[<em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oyez.org\/cases\/1992\/92-357\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Shaw v. Reno<\/a><\/em>]that keep the use of race within constitutional bounds.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The NAACP attorney&rsquo;s conflicting answer prompted Gorsuch to follow up on the matter. He said that while he &ldquo;understand[s] that,&rdquo; &ldquo;one argument is often, &lsquo;Well, once you&rsquo;ve found a Section 2 violation, you&rsquo;ve got a compelling interest to go ahead and discriminate on the basis of race in your remedial map.&#8217;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m just wondering [if] you endorse that view or do you reject that view?&rdquo; Gorsuch asked.<\/p>\n<p>Nelson replied, &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t endorse the concept of discriminating on the basis of race. If discrimination has been established under Section 2 and a state determines that it needs a very precise incision of race in order to remedy that Section 2 violation, then Section 2 and this court&rsquo;s precedent supports that.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Trump appointee noted how &ldquo;sometimes federal district courts order maps&rdquo; and that it appears that what Nelson is arguing is that it&rsquo;s &ldquo;sometimes [it is] acceptable for a federal district court to order a map that intentionally discriminates on the basis of race.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>In disagreeing with the justice&rsquo;s &ldquo;formulation,&rdquo; Nelson argued that &ldquo;states and plaintiffs, as they put forth illustrative maps, cannot put forth maps that discriminate and that use race in an excessive fashion.&rdquo; &ldquo;The only actor that has broader leeway,&rdquo; she continued, &ldquo;are states because we give states breathing room&rdquo; and &ldquo;wide latitude in order to balance their political interests and concerns.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;So, federal district courts can&rsquo;t discriminate on the basis of race in remedies, but states can?&rdquo; Gorsuch asked.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Federal district courts can only order maps that are constitutional, and, again, the constitutional boundaries are between Gingles and Shaw,&rdquo; Nelson said.<\/p>\n<p>Seeking to pin down Nelson&rsquo;s position on the issue, Gorsuch asked, &ldquo;You said states &lsquo;have more breathing room.&rsquo; So, do they have the &lsquo;breathing room&rsquo; to intentionally discriminate on the basis of race?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>While Nelson said that states &ldquo;don&rsquo;t have breathing room to intentionally discriminate on the basis of race,&rdquo; she then appeared to undermine that position with a quick follow-up statement. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They have breathing room to use race to remedy their own discrimination,&rdquo; Nelson said. <\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<div lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<p>Gorsuch got the lady to admit that discrimination isn&#8217;t bad if it&#8217;s used for minorities to get &#8216;justice.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Gorsuch: &#8220;Do [states] have the breathing room to intentionally discriminate on the basis of race?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Liberal: &#8220;They have breathing room to use race to remedy their own&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/hkLVY0QxQm\">https:\/\/t.co\/hkLVY0QxQm<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/a64XU0QSEw\">pic.twitter.com\/a64XU0QSEw<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&mdash; Gunther Eagleman&trade; (@GuntherEagleman) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GuntherEagleman\/status\/1978474513714098570?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh attempted to get further clarity from Nelson on the subject. Following Gorsuch&rsquo;s line of questioning, Kavanaugh said &ldquo;the hang-up there is the word &lsquo;discriminate,&#8217;&rdquo; and asked the NAACP attorney if what she&rsquo;s arguing is that federal district courts &ldquo;can intentionally use race in those circumstances.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If needed,&rdquo; Nelson replied. &ldquo;There are often a wide range of possibilities and alternatives that don&rsquo;t require that.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gorsuch pressed NAACP lawyer on race-based redistricting support<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2499351,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Neil-Gorsuch.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[12186,65295,13195,38587,16985],"class_list":["post-2499350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-gorsuch","tag-legal-support","tag-naacp","tag-race-discrimination","tag-redistricting"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Neil-Gorsuch.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2499350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2499350"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2499350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2499354,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2499350\/revisions\/2499354"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2499351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2499350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2499350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2499350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}