SCOTUS Rejects Race-Based Louisiana District

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 yesterday that Louisiana’s new congressional map—which created a second majority-black district in addition to the long-standing one—was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.

• The court’s conservative majority held that race had been the predominant factor in drawing the district’s boundaries, violating the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

The case, Louisiana v. Callais, began after the 2020 census. A federal judge ruled that Louisiana’s original map likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 because it did not create a second majority-black district. When the state created one, that new map was challenged as an illegal use of race. The Supreme Court agreed with the challengers.

• In the majority opinion, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that while Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act aims to prevent discrimination, it cannot force states to engage in race-based drawing of voting districts that violates the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
• The Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana’s attempt to satisfy the earlier court order resulted in such a racial gerrymander. The 6th District stretched more than 200 miles to link otherwise unrelated black-majority areas in Shreveport, Alexandria, Lafayette and Baton Rouge.

Liberal justices dissented. Justice Elena Kagan wrote that the decision “renders Section 2 all but a dead letter” and warned of far-reaching consequences for minority voting power.

• The ruling does not completely eliminate Section 2, but it sharply limits how race can be used in redistricting. Analysts say 12 to 19 Democrat-held districts were created in similar ways to the 6th District and could be subject to redistricting, potentially helping Republicans in future elections.
• Barack Obama criticized the ruling as “just one more example of how a majority of the current court seems intent on abandoning its vital role in ensuring equal participation in our democracy.”

The truth is, the ruling disenfranchises no one. It ensures that communities vote together instead of pitting blacks in unrelated cities against their white neighbors.

During the height of the American civil rights movement, the late Herbert W. Armstrong warned about rising race problems in America. Basing his forecasts on Bible prophecies, he wrote in the October 1963 Plain Truth:

Make no mistake! This is no light matter to pass over casually! Race war is coming! Racial tensions, passions and hatreds are being deliberately stirred by organized planning.

The comments Obama and others are making about the Supreme Court are not intended to bring communities together but to stir up resentment in America between the races.