ANALYSIS
Supreme Court strikes down Louisiana's race-based congressional map in landmark voting rights ruling
Justice Samuel Alito, author of the majority opinion, wrote, "The Voting Rights Act did not require the creation of that additional district, so there was no constitutionally sufficient interest justifying the predominant use of race."
Supreme Court building
The Supreme Court on Tuesday declared the congressional map of Louisiana that created a second majority-black district unconstitutional, finding that the predominant use of race violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The landmark ruling could be a major boost for Republicans in the November congressional election.
The case, known as Louisiana v. Callais, arose after the 2020 post-census redistricting, when the state approved a map with two majority-black districts. A group of voters, led by Phillip Callais, sued, arguing that it was "unconstitutional racial gerrymandering." The case reached the Supreme Court in 2025.
A split ruling that redraws the boundaries of the electoral map
By a 6-3 vote, the court struck down the SB8 state map that was approved in 2024. Justice Samuel Alito, author of the majority opinion, wrote: "Because the Voting Rights Act did not require Louisiana to create an additional majority-minority district, no compelling interest justified the State's use of race."
Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch joined the majority. Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson voted in dissent.
Justice Kagan stated that this ruling is "the latest chapter in the majority's now-completed demolition of the Voting Rights Act."
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, a Republican, celebrated the decision. "The Supreme Court has ended Louisiana's long-running nightmare of federal courts coercing the state to draw a racially discriminatory map," she said.
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