On April 29, the U.S. Supreme Court’s right-wing majority issued a ruling that essentially destroyed what was left of the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act, which the high court had methodically weakened since 2013. In its 6 to 3 ruling in the Louisiana v. Callais case, the Court severely restricted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, striking down a Louisiana congressional map with two Black-majority districts, making it harder, if not impossible to challenge voting maps as racially discriminatory nationwide.
In response to the ruling Kristen Clarke, general counsel with the NAACP said, “This is one of the most-consequential and devastating rulings issued by the Supreme Court in the 21st century. This will embolden lawmakers in former slave-holding states to target and eradicate districts that have provided black Americans a fair opportunity to elect candidates of choice, and they will do so with the blessing of this Court.”
The Supreme Court’s ruling in this case coincides with the Trump regime’s implementation of an openly white supremacist agenda where DEI programs have been criminalized, black history has been erased from federally funded libraries and museums, civil rights law enforcement has been terminated, Confederate Generals names have been restored to military installations, and a mass deportation campaign was launched where those targeted mirrors ethnic cleansing. Between the Lines’ Scott Harris spoke with Marjorie Cohn, professor emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law and past president of the National Lawyers Guild, who examines the consequences of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that killed what’s left of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
MARJORIE COHN: Well, Scott, the Voting Rights Act ended Jim Crow-era election procedures that kept black people from voting in the South through intimidation, poll taxes, literacy tests. And this was part of a system of post-Civil War legalized racial segregation that was meant to restore white supremacy after the end of slavery and the federal military occupation of the South. Jim Crow lasted from 1877 until the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act the following year. Section 2, which is what was disemboweled in this new Supreme Court case, allows states to draw voting districts that benefit candidates from racial minorities and enable citizens to challenge election maps that are racially discriminatory. So in its April 29th ruling in this case, Louisiana vs. Callais, the 6 to 3 right-wing super majority of the Supreme Court struck down a congressional map that a group of self-described non-African-American voters had challenged as an unconstitutional gerrymander.
Samuel Alito, John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett all ruled that drawing districts to remedy past discrimination itself constitutes unconstitutional racial discrimination. Now, for 61 years, the Voting Rights Act has been one of the most significant protections against racial gerrymandering. There are now more than 10,000 black elected officials throughout the country compared to about 1,500 in 1970. And remember, the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965. So what this decision does, Callais, is to pave the way for the largest decrease in representation by black members of Congress and it will lead to the elimination of dozens of black and Latino majority districts throughout the South and a substantial number of current congressional seats.
SCOTT HARRIS: What’s the most viable path to get to a remedy to reinstate the Voting Rights Act? And it’s, I think, widely credible and widely supported intention to eliminate racial discrimination in voting and in our democracy and have fair representation for everyone in this country.
MARJORIE COHN: Well, I think Democrats are going to have to be as aggressive in their redistricting as the Republicans. Generally, Republicans are more aggressive and that’s why they seem to be winning so much. But Democrats are going to have to be equally aggressive and beat the Republicans at their own game, not that this is a game. There’s also Supreme Court reform, which I think is kind of pie in the sky, but increasing the number of members of the Supreme Court, I really don’t like to call them justices because so many of them are not really justices. They don’t do justice, but increasing the number of members of the Supreme Court in creating term limits for them, maybe 18 years so that they don’t serve for a life. But I do think that Democrats are going to have to be more aggressive than Republicans and they’re not used to that.
And I think they’re going to have to do that because we’re going to see now a redistricting flood, not that it hasn’t been happening already. And certainly after the Texas redistricting, then California fought back and then Virginia. So it’s already happening, but I think that’s really ground zero at this point, I’m afraid.
SCOTT HARRIS: Thanks for that rundown, Marjorie. One thing that is being overlooked, at least in a lot of the initial discussion of the impact of the Supreme Court decision is what may happen on the local, state, and county level because there’s a lot of districts that are drawn there that may similarly be impacted by this decision where municipalities and states have made extra effort to be inclusive and make sure there’s fair representation among the people of their state.
MARJORIE COHN: Yes. Well, what I can say, Scott, is that the majority of Section 2 lawsuits that have benefited black people and given them an equal opportunity to vote have happened at the local level. So I think you’re right. I think we’re going to see a lot of activity at the local level that is going to ultimately disenfranchise black people.
For more information, visit Marjorie Cohn’s website at marjoriecohn.com.
Listen to Scott Harris’ in-depth interview with Marjorie Cohn (26:01) and see more articles and opinion pieces in the related links section of this page. For periodic updates on the Trump authoritarian playbook, subscribe here to our Between The Lines Radio Newsmagazine Substack newsletter. Subscribe to our Weekly Summary
