Supreme Court narrows the Voting Rights Act in Louisiana v. Callais
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Louisiana v. Callais that the state's second Black-majority congressional district was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, and tightened what Section 2 plaintiffs must prove.
What happened
Justice Alito wrote for the majority, affirming the three-judge district court. The decision makes three changes to the Gingles framework that together raise the bar for Section 2 claims, including a requirement that plaintiffs show present-day intentional racial discrimination rather than the ongoing effects of past discrimination.
Why it matters
Section 2 is the provision under which racial vote-dilution claims are brought. Raising what a plaintiff must prove narrows the route by which a map can be challenged at all.