'If You Can Keep It': The Supreme Court And The Voting Rights Act

1A · May 4, 2026 · 43m

Last week, in a six-to-three ruling along ideological lines, the Supreme Court dealt a major blow to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

That’s the landmark Civil Rights era law designed to prevent racial discrimination in an election. The law was passed to unravel Jim Crow era policies that limited or blocked Black Americans’ access to the ballot.

The decision in Louisiana v. Callais struck down Louisiana’s congressional map as an “unconstitutional gerrymander.”

But the ruling goes further. It effectively rewrites the rules for how the Voting Rights Act can be used to challenge discriminatory…