The US supreme court has ruled that Louisiana will have to redraw its congressional map, in a landmark decision that effectively guts a major section of the Voting Rights Act.
In a 6-3 decision along partisan lines, the court rendered ineffective section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the last remaining powerful provision of the 1965 civil rights law that prevents racial discrimination in voting. Section 2 specifically has long been used to ensure minority voters are treated fairly in redistricting
“Allowing race to play any part in government decision-making represents a departure from the constitutional rule that applies in almost every other context,” Justice Samuel Alito, a conservative, wrote for the majority opinion. “Compliance with section 2 thus could not justify the state’s use of race-based redistricting here. The state’s attempt to satisfy the Middle District’s ruling, although understandable, was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.”
I bolded Alito’s statement and looked at another document he references:
Section 1
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude–
Section 2
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
I guess teenage amendments don’t count since they can’t drink yet? I mean, that’s as good a reason as any for today’s ruling.
Anyway, if Republicans are going to have a Supreme Court when they’re in power, and Republicans are going to have partisan gerrymanders in all the states they rule, it’s pretty fucking obvious that Democrats need to work to get the same thing when we’re in power. Same rules for everyone. Pack the Court and redistrict every blue state.
