Controversy
Status:Open
Will the U.S. Supreme Court Overturn Provisions of the Voting Rights Act as Part of Louisiana v. Callais?
UNLIKELYLIKELY
Claims
Elena Kagan"Each of the propositions [being put] forward here that Section 2 has to be limited in some way just to purposeful discrimination, that it doesn't authorize race-based redistricting as a remedy, and that we need to fundamentally overhaul the Gingles threshold inquiry was rejected, I don't know, three years ago, two years ago, by a majority of this Court."Dec 17, 2025
CNN"Kavanaugh appears to be the pivotal justice in the Louisiana case, just as he was two years ago in a similar redistricting dispute from Alabama... But now as the stakes have risen, Kavanaugh’s doubts have deepened."Oct 16, 2025
The Nation"The outcome in this case was decided long before the lawyers arrived at the courthouse. The six Republican justices are going to declare the Voting Rights Act inert and allow the dilution of Black voting rights through racist gerrymandering"Nov 06, 2025
Maya Sen“I think it’s very unlikely that the Voting Rights Act will escape unscathed from this court. I think they’re very likely to strike down portions of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.”Oct 15, 2025
Jim Saksa"It doesn't seem likely [Roberts or Gorsuch will] join the court's liberals in upholding the VRA."Oct 15, 2025
Max Flugrath"By taking the unusual step of reopening arguments, legal experts believe, the court’s far-right majority may have telegraphed its intent to dismantle Section 2."Oct 15, 2025
Edward Blum"It appears that Section 2 will be narrowed in a way that would make race-based gerrymandering for allegedly remedial purposes illegal.”Oct 15, 2025
Ketanji Brown Jackson"It's a pretty bare – it's a pretty significant showing – to establish that unequal opportunity of electoral processes is happening in a situation."Dec 17, 2025
The Hill"Expectations are growing that the Supreme Court’s decades-old framework that forces states to draw additional majority-minority districts under the key provision will be reined in one way or another."Dec 17, 2025
SCOTUSblog"Section 2 may remain in effect and be enforceable even if the court holds in Callais that states may not draw race-based districts to avoid a Section 2 violation."Sep 12, 2025
Clarence Thomas“I am hopeful that this Court will soon realize that the conflict its Section 2 jurisprudence has sown with the Constitution is too severe to ignore.”Dec 14, 2025
Amy Howe"The court’s conservative justices signaled that they are likely to undermine a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, even if they may not ultimately strike it down altogether."Oct 17, 2025
Devon Ombres"Louisiana v. Callais could well be the culmination of Chief Justice Roberts’ goal to eliminate the Voting Rights Act."Dec 14, 2025
