{"id":2596649,"date":"2026-04-29T11:48:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T15:48:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-smacks-down-rampant-race-based-gerrymandering\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T11:49:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T15:49:40","slug":"supreme-court-smacks-down-rampant-race-based-gerrymandering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/supreme-court-smacks-down-rampant-race-based-gerrymandering\/","title":{"rendered":"SCOTUS Smacks Down Rampant Race-Based Gerrymandering"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">12<\/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%2Fsupreme-court-smacks-down-rampant-race-based-gerrymandering%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=2596649&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 U.S. Supreme Court ruled in *Louisiana v. Callais* that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) does not permit (or require) states to use race when drawing district lines in a way that conflicts with the Constitution. Writing for the 6-3 majority, Justice Samuel alito saeid previous lower-court applications of \u00a72 forced states into unconstitutional race-based discrimination, and affirmed that Louisiana should not be found liable for how it drew its 2022 map.<\/p>\n<p>The dispute began when Louisiana created a second majority-Black (majority-minority) congressional district only after a lower court suggested the original map likely violated \u00a72. That new map led to a new lawsuit, where plaintiffs argued the additional district amounted to an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. the majority agreed that attempting to comply with the earlier lower-court order produced an impermissible racial gerrymander.<\/p>\n<p>Justice Clarence Thomas concurred separately, arguing even more broadly that \u00a72 does not regulate districting at all because its language targets discriminatory voting \u201cqualifications\u201d or procedures related to access to or counting of votes-not states\u2019 choices among districting schemes.<\/p>\n<p>In dissent, Justice Elena Kagan (joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown jackson) argued the Court\u2019s approach would allow systematic dilution of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/only-democratic-representative-to-vote-against-h-r-1-election-bill-explains-decision\/\" title=\"Only Democratic Representative To Vote Against H.R. 1 Election Bill Explains ...\">minority voting power<\/a> without legal consequences, and said the decision undermines congress\u2019s intended protection of racial equality in electoral possibility.  <\/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>The U.S. Supreme Court released a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.gov\/opinions\/25pdf\/24-109_21o3.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">bombshell ruling<\/a> on Wednesday significantly curtailing states\u2019 use of race in the redistricting process.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSection 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 \u2026 was designed to enforce the Constitution \u2014 not collide with it. Unfortunately, lower courts have sometimes applied this Court\u2019s \u00a72 precedents in a way that forces States to engage in the very race-based discrimination that the Constitution forbids,\u201d Associate Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the majority (6-3). <\/p>\n<p>Known as <em><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/louisiana-v-callais\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Louisiana v. Callais<\/a><\/em>, the case <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/09\/30\/the-federalists-guide-to-the-2025-supreme-court-term\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">centers<\/a> around Louisiana\u2019s creation of a second majority-black district in its most recent congressional map. The Pelican State added the second majority-minority district following a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-law-enforcement-deputized-ordered-to-arrest-rogue-democratic-lawmakers-immediately\/\" title=\"Texas Law Enforcement Deputized, Ordered To Arrest Rogue Democratic Lawmakers \u2018Immediately\u2019\">lower court order<\/a> that said its original map \u2014 which only included one majority-black district \u2014 likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). <\/p>\n<p>The new map prompted a new lawsuit from a different set of plaintiffs, who alleged the creation of a second majority-minority district constituted an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. A different lower court agreed with these plaintiffs. <\/p>\n<p>Writing for the majority, Alito said that the debacle presents a good vehicle for the justices to tackle \u201cthe long-unresolved question [of] whether compliance with the Voting Rights Act provides a compelling reason that may justify the intentional use of race in drawing legislative districts.\u201d After examining the facts of the case and what the Constitution requires, he noted that the majority determined that, \u201cCorrectly understood, \u00a72 does not impose liability at odds with the Constitution, and it should not have imposed liability on Louisiana for its 2022 map.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCompliance with \u00a72 thus could not justify the State\u2019s use of race-based redistricting here. The State\u2019s attempt to satisfy the Middle District\u2019s ruling, although understandable, was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, and we therefore affirm the decision below,\u201d Alito wrote. <\/p>\n<p>Associate Justice Clarence Thomas authored a separate concurring opinion, which Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch joined. In noting his full agreement with the majority opinion, the Bush 41 appointee wrote that he \u201cwould go further and hold that \u00a72 of the Voting Rights Act does not regulate districting at all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe relevant text prohibits States from imposing or applying a \u2018voting qualification,\u2019 \u2018prerequisite to voting,\u2019 or \u2018standard, practice, or procedure,\u2019 in a manner that results in a denial or abridgement of the right to vote based on race \u2026 How States draw district lines does not fall within any of those three categories,\u201d Thomas wrote. \u201cThe words in \u00a72 instead \u2018reach only \u201cenactments that regulate citizens\u2019 access to the ballot or the processes for counting a ballot;\u201d they \u201cdo not include a State\u2019s . . . choice of one districting scheme over another.\u201d\u2018 \u2026 Therefore, no \u00a72 challenge to districting should ever succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Associate Justice Elena Kagan authored the court\u2019s dissenting opinion, which Associate Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson joined. The three Democrat appointees contended that, \u201cUnder the Court\u2019s new view of Section 2, a State can, without legal consequence, <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >systematically dilute minority citizens\u2019 voting power<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI dissent because the Court betrays its duty to faithfully implement the great statute Congress wrote. I dissent because the Court\u2019s decision will set back the foundational right Congress granted of racial equality in electoral opportunity. I dissent,\u201d Kagan wrote. <\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics and RealClearHealth. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Supreme Court ruling limits states\u2019 use of race in redistricting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2596650,"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\/01\/Supreme-Court.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[22850,78814,6994,32275,32570],"class_list":["post-2596649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-gerrymandering","tag-race-based-districting","tag-scotus","tag-supreme-court","tag-voting-rights"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Supreme-Court.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2596649","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=2596649"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2596649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2596653,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2596649\/revisions\/2596653"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2596650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2596649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2596649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2596649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}