WASHINGTON — The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law decried the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Louisiana v. Callais to severely weaken Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The case involves a challenge to a redistricted election map in Louisiana that was drawn with two majority black districts to remedy a Section 2 violation.
Damon T. Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee issued this statement:
“Black Americans have never been fully represented in the electoral process. This ruling makes it less likely that we ever will. The impact of this ruling cannot be understated. The consequences will be seen both immediately and far into the future.
“For decades, we used Section 2 as a means of defense because it served as a powerful mechanism to address discrimination against Black voters and other voters of color, while providing opportunity to build the kind of electoral power and political power we have long been denied. But, today, the Supreme Court has gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
“The Supreme Court has displayed a mounting hostility toward voting rights and Constitutional rights, particularly for Black voters. Today’s ruling continues that pattern. In essence, the Supreme Court has usurped Congress’ authority by rewriting Section 2 of the VRA. Now, to block a remedy, states will try to hide behind a false mask of partisanship.
“The Court claims to leave the law intact, but reinterprets it in a convoluted way, making it infinitely more difficult—if not impossible—not only to secure meaningful relief for a violation of voting rights, but to prove that a violation exists at all.
“Two days ago, the Supreme Court reversed a three-judge panel that had struck down neighboring Texas’s mid-decade redistricting as a likely unconstitutional racial gerrymander. Based upon the illogic of its prior order issuing a stay of that lower court ruling, the Supreme Court gave Texas carte blanche to trample the rights of Black and Latino voters.
“Partisanship has now been elevated from permissible, to being a priority, to now offering protection to states, insulating them from accountability for violating voting rights. And communities of color are left with rights on paper, but virtually no effective remedies in fact.
“Faced with this new reality, we must not give up hope. We must use every tool at our disposal to protect voting rights, from litigation and advocacy to the Election Protection Coalition, which helps voters navigate increased obstacles to the ballot through the 866-OUR-VOTE hotline year-round. We must also pursue reform of the Supreme Court, which has become both logically and morally bankrupt. Our democracy depends on it.”
