Supreme Court Bans Race-Based Redistricting in Louisiana

0:00On April 30, the Supreme Court just dropped a 6-3 bomb on Louisiana's Congressional map, ruling it an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, for packing in a second majority black district. This conservative majority decision, led by Justice Alito, slams the brakes on using race as a main driver in redistricting, even when states try to. Follow federal voting rights rules. Earlier this week in Washington, the court said Louisiana's 2024 fix didn't cut it under section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, that key. Law-fighting election discrimination. Black folks make up about one-third of the state's population, so lower courts had nixed the original map for just one such district. Now they're back. To square one after years of battles, post-2020 census. Just as Clarence Thomas doubled down in his side opinion, pushing for a full stop on slicing of voters by race to keep things colorblind per the, 14th and 15th amendments. Meanwhile, liberal Justice Elena Kagan fired back, warning this could gut section 2 protections

1:03and hit minority votes hard nationwide. This ruling tightens the screws on states everywhere, drawing maps, making it tougher to boost black representation, without tripping constitutional. Wires. It builds on past hits to the Voting Rights Act from 2013 and 2021, plus a surprise win for plaintiffs in Alabama last year. Louisiana's got to redraw its lines again, testing how far Voting Rights can stretch in this divided era, expect more court fights reshaping who holds, power at the ballot box.