Judicial Supremacy Has Arrived
Last week’s Supreme Court decision didn’t just undermine the Voting Rights Act. It foreclosed the possibility of any new Voting Rights Act in the future, too.
TL;DR
- The Callais v. Louisiana decision represents a critical blow to the Voting Rights Act, primarily by hindering federal voting-rights claims related to fair districting and potentially collapsing Black representation in the South.
- The ruling's deeper ambition lies in its interpretation of the Fifteenth Amendment, which Justice Alito argues restricts Congress's power to remedy racial discrimination in elections, effectively closing off future legislative solutions.
- This decision, following earlier rulings in Shelby County v. Holder and Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, dismantles a long-standing constitutional settlement where Congress and the Court jointly interpreted foundational guarantees, establishing judicial supremacy.
- The Callais decision not only weakens the Voting Rights Act but also politically disempowers the very legislators most likely to fight for voting rights reform by potentially eliminating their districts and providing a roadmap for entrenching vote dilution under the guise of partisan gerrymandering.