Mastodawn

#SCOTUS is hearing arguments Wednesday over a core provision of the #VotingRightsAct that is designed to protect racial minorities.

Lawyers for #Louisiana & the #Trump admin [the first admin ever to challenge the law] will try to persuade the justices to wipe away the state’s 2nd majority Black congressional district & make it much harder, if not impossible, to take account of #race in #redistricting.

#law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy
https://apnews.com/live/supreme-court-voting-rights-arguments-updates?utm_source=onesignal&utm_medium=push&utm_campaign=2025-10-15-Live+updates

Live updates: Supreme Court hears arguments over the Voting Rights Act

The Supreme Court is hearing arguments Wednesday over a core provision of the Voting Rights Act that is designed to protect racial minorities.

AP News

Roberts & #Kavanaugh are the ones to watch

Along with the three liberal justices, #JohnRoberts & Brett Kavanaugh were part of a surprising decision two years ago that required #Alabama to redraw its congressional districts to benefit Black voters and led to the new map in #Louisiana as well.

The outcome likely will be different if either justice votes differently this time around.

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

4 lawyers will present arguments to the court

But only one is defending the #Louisiana congressional map with 2 majority #Black districts.

That will be #CivilRights lawyer Janai Nelson, representing the Black voters who sued when the state initially produced a map with just one majority Black district.

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

The other lawyers are the #Trump administration’s deputy solicitor general, Hashim Mooppan, #Louisiana Solicitor General Benjamin Aguiñaga & Edward Greim, the lawyer for the #white voters who sued over the map with 2 majority #Black districts.

Louisiana switched sides after the court ordered new arguments.

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

Arguments underway in #SCOTUS #VotingRightsAct case

#JohnRoberts first called on Janai Nelson of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund to present her argument. Nelson is representing Press Robinson & other #Black #Louisiana voters.

Nelson argues her opponents “seek stagging reversal of precedent that would throw maps across the country into chaos.”

#law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

#ClarenceThomas has been questioning section 2 almost since he joined the court in 1991

The questioning begins with Thomas. His long-held view that drawing districts with #race in mind violates the #Constitution. Until now, that view has never commanded a majority of the court.

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

Early debates center on 1986 Gingles ruling

Justices questioned Nelson on the “Gingles test,” which dates from a 1986 court ruling resulting in the invalidation of North Carolina legislative districts & yielded more single-member districts in state legislatures.

“You look at how different races of voters vote & whether they vote in a way that is polarized,” Nelson said, responding to a question about considering partisan & race in drawing districts.

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #WhiteSupremacy

“We’re talking about racially polarized voting that is above 84%, which is more than what this court found in Thornburg v. Gingles in 1986,” Nelson said.

A bit of political/legal jargon repeatedly came up early in Wednesday’s voting rights oral arguments.

“Packing & cracking” refers to a practice by the party in power, which tries to pack Black voters into condensed areas, then divide them.

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

When it comes to redrawing districts in #Louisiana, the argument by plaintiffs is that #Republicans are seeking to condense the #Black vote then dilute it by dividing them among districts.

Justice Jackson brings up a 2023 case from #Alabama where #SCOTUS upheld the #VotingRightsAct.

Nelson’s argument seems to suggest, “We not revisit the determination that we made just 2 years ago,” Jackson said.

“That is absolutely correct,” Nelson responded.

#law #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

#Kavanaugh, one of the key justices to watch in this case, questions whether there might be a point where the country no longer needs to take #race into account in drawing voting districts.

“The issue, as you know, is that this court’s cases, in a variety of contexts, has said that race-based remedies are permissible for a period of time … but that they should not be indefinite & should have an end point,” he said.

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

In a back-and-forth with Nelson about time limits, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said that the #VotingRightsAct section in question, “doesn’t need a time limit, because it’s not doing any work other than just pointing us to the direction of where we might need to do something.”

Nelson said it would be “reckless” to determine, “somehow if Section 2 is no longer needed simply because it has been so successful in rooting out racial discrimination in voting.”

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA

Asked by Justice #Sotomayor to delineate differences between the current case & a 2023 decision that dealt with affirmative action, Nelson argued that the prior case “involved the diversity rationale involving an admissions process with a university, not a statute.”

In 2023, #SCOTUS struck down #AffirmativeAction in college admissions, declaring race cannot be a factor & forcing institutions of higher education to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies.

#law #VotingRights

The court’s conservative majority effectively overturned cases reaching back 45 years in invalidating admissions plans at Harvard & the University of North Carolina, the nation’s oldest private & public colleges, respectively.

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

Now the justices will hear from J. Benjamin Aguiñaga, #Louisiana’s solicitor general. The state is no longer defending the disputed map.

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

#Gorsuch appeared skeptical of Nelson’s argument, pressing her on how & when race can be used in the drawing of maps. His questions cut to the heart of the questions the justices are considering today.
“You’re saying sometimes acceptable for a federal district court to order a map that intentionally discriminates on the basis of race?” he asked. The #Louisiana maps at issue today weren’t drawn by a judge, but courts can order maps re-drawn under the #VRA.

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #CivilRights

Nelson pushed back. It’s not #discrimination for states to keep race in mind as they draw voting districts to comply with the #VRA & ensure representation for minority votes, she argued.

Under questioning from Justice Elena #Kagan, Nelson describes as “catastrophic” the impact of Secton 2 of the #VotingRightsAct ceasing to prevent vote dissolution, including in legislative districts beyond #Congress.

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

“We only have the diversity that we see across the South, for example, because of litigation that forced the creation of opportunity districts under the #VotingRightsAct,” Nelson said.

“It is an intervention that has been crucial to diversifying leadership & providing an ability of minority voters to have an equal opportunity to participate in the process, she adds.

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

Then an important caveat: “But it also isn’t a permanent remedy. It corrects itself over time, & it’s only triggered when those extreme conditions exist.”

Benjamin Aguiñaga is now arguing for the state. He’s the state’s solicitor general and is considered a rising star in conservative legal circles. He’s defending the states position that could bring major changes to the #VotingRightsAct.

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

“The #Constitution does not tolerate this system of of government-mandated racial balancing,” Aguiñaga said. “I respectfully but firmly resist the premise that this comes to the court on a finding of specific discrimination by the state.”

Questioning Aguiñaga about the role of race in #redistricting, #Sotomayor says it’s always a factor.

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

Of the case’s 6 #white plaintiffs, #Sotomayor said that “no one’s stopping them from participating in the voting process,” adding that “the state is stopping #Black voters from doing that in many districts, because it’s packing them into areas that whites overwhelm them.”

Beginning his remarks, the #Louisiana solicitor general opened with the suppositions of what he called a “stereotyping system” that assumes one #Black voter would vote like another.

#SCOTUS #law #CivilRights #WhiteSupremacy

Justice #Sotomayor is pressing #Louisiana’s lawyer about the state’s change in position from the first iteration of the case. The state previously told the court that lawmakers drew congressional boundaries primarily with #politics in mind, not #race. The map protected high-profile lawmakers, including Speaker #MikeJohnson, a Republican whose district is in the state.

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

The justices set one hour for today’s argument. We’ve passed the one-hour mark and with four lawyers arguing it will likely extend much longer.

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

Justice #Kagan is pointing out that Section 2 of the #VotingRightsAct is not aimed at preventing #racial #discrimination that comes as an effect of #redistricting, regardless of its intent by map drawers.

“Section 2 is not about intentional discrimination. Section 2 is about effects,” Kagan says.

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

“Our duty of candor requires, requires us to give the court our honest answer to that question,” Louisiana Solicitor General Benjamin Aguiñaga, said. “The race-based redistricting that you’re now objecting to is redistricting designed to remedy a specific identified, proved violation of law.”

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

#Kavanaugh *again* comes back to the question of whether the country might come to a point where it no longer needs to take #race into account when drawing voting districts.

Aguiñaga, the Louisiana solicitor general, essentially argues that we’re there already [oh really?]:

“I think the warning bells have been sounding for decades, & I think that’s a long enough notice for anybody involved.”

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

In an animated discussion to close up Aguiñaga’s arguments, Justice #Jackson asked him to specify where in §2 another minority district was laid out as a potential solution.

As the #Louisiana solicitor general repeatedly referenced prior court interpretation of §2 as seeking to settle matters of “racial injustice,” Jackson interjected to note that such cases were “so tied up w/race because that’s the initial problem.”

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

“It is a separate question as to how we go about remedying that, & the extent to which we need to use #race as a remedy,” Justice #Jackson added. “That’s the question we’re here on today.”

Up next is attorney Edward Greim for Phillip Callais & other #white #Louisiana voters.

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

Earlier, Justice #Kavanaugh gave #Louisiana’s lawyer an opportunity to push back on the #NAACP lawyer’s warning of “catastrophic” implications if the court strikes down §2 & the possibility that none of Louisiana’s 6 congressional districts would be majority-minority.

The state’s lawyer says, “I don’t know what our legislature would do,” but adds, “I don’t think the sky is going to fall.”

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

Edward D. Greim, a partner at the Kansas City firm Graves Garrett Greim, who is representing the #white voters from #Louisiana who challenged the map, urges the justices to act in time to allow new maps in the #2026election. [of course he does]

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

I think the biggest problem with this guy‘s argument is that he is continuously arguing that all #Black people vote #Democrat in #Louisiana and that’s just bullshit. He’s saying that because all Black people vote Democrat then you don’t need a separate test for racial redistricting & political redistricting they’re exactly the same is his argument, but sorry that’s just bullshit.

This is his Gingles / Robinson argument.
#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

This was Hashim Mooppan representing the #Trump administration in support of #Louisiana & #white voters arguing all #Black people vote #Democrat

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

One factor courts consider in deciding whether states need to re-draw their maps is whether people tend to vote together, the trend referred to as “racially polarized voting.”

It’s part of how judges decide whether minority voters can cast their ballots for a candidate of their choice.

Mooppan argues that #Louisiana voters didn’t have big differences by #race, so the districts were drawn instead with #politics in mind – something #SCOTUS has said is fine.

#law #VotingRights #ActivistCourt

Mooppan, #Trump administration’s lawyer calls the voting map in #Louisiana a “reverse partisan gerrymander” based on race because #Black voters in the state overwhelmingly back #Democratic candidates. He suggests that in a #Republican-dominated state like #WestVirginia, white #Democrats do not get congressional districts drawn to give them an opportunity to elect their candidates of choice [cuz the Trump admin really cares about white Dems🙄]

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights

Sorry, have to laugh right now as #AmyConeyBarrett says to Mooppan than it is a “big ask” to reconfigure #Gingles because its a 40 year old #precedent.

Is she serious?

Can you say #RoeVWade?

#SCOTUS #hypocrisy #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

Janai Nelson president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund is back up. Again, she is the only lawyer before the court arguing for maintaining §2 of the #VRA as it is. There are 3 lawyers arguing against her, 1 each for the State of #Louisiana, the #Trump admin, & #white voters in Louisiana.

“Louisiana is emblematic of the ongoing need for Section 2,” she said.

She closes her argument, the case is submitted. Court adjourned.

#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy

@Nonilex that example cuts the other way, though.

The history of Roe v Wade was long and problematic showing the contrast between settled thought and tenuous approaches.

For better or worse, the law before the court right now is in the tenuous category, just like Roe v Wade was.

Barbara Monaco Oct 15

@Nonilex Hilarious that West Virginia was used as an example here because it is one of the most Caucasian states in the US. 95% white.

Steve Hersey Oct 15

"the districts were drawn instead with #politics in mind – something #SCOTUS has said is fine."

Yet another reason to question the sanity of the SCOTUS majority.

@n1xnx If you understand the argument it makes perfect sense. In fact it would be nuts to rule the other way.

District drawing is fundamentally political. That is just the truth of it. The Supreme Court merely acknowledges the fact of how the United States is structured, and has been structured, and will continue to be structured unless we go through constitutional amendment to change it.

You can question the sanity, but be ready to understand the answer. No, they are not insane, they are laying out the argument behind their conclusion for us all to see.

@Nonilex That's so untrue that in parts of the deep South, some white people use "Democrat" as a code for "Black".

Pēteris Krišjānis Oct 15

@Nonilex I see we continue proud tradition of vibes driven evidence

Toot Ωncommon - RIP 🇺🇸Oct 15

@Nonilex “Vote democratic” that is, unless you’re intending to indicate your allegiance to the GOP to us.

Shdwdrgn Oct 15

@Nonilex Serious question... If states counted all votes for state-wide elections instead of winner-takes-all for each district, wouldn't that eliminate a lot of the problems with racist redistricting shenanigans? Sure there would still be some issues with white supremacists gaming the system, but it seems like it would solve at least some of them?

Of course the same should be true for the Presidential race... none of this crap of eliminating votes because of EC, just count up the whole nation.

@Shdwdrgn @Nonilex As I've said before, the Germans have this right. You cast two votes, one for a person to be your representative, and one for the party. The person who wins the most votes in your district gets a seat in the parliament (first past the post), but the party vote is used to add extra representatives, from a party list, so that any party that gets 5% or more of the vote is guaranteed a proportional number of seats in the parliament (the number of total seats is variable to make things work out). A party with fewer than 5% still gets representatives if they win their districts. The result is that US-style gerrymandering is impossible: a party or coalition that wins the most votes is guaranteed to have a majority, no matter how the lines are drawn.

Shdwdrgn Oct 15

@not2b @Nonilex Nice, I hadn't heard about their system of voting. See what happens when you have politicians make an -honest- effort to keep things fair for everyone?

Yvonne ‘looks undocumented’Oct 15

@Nonilex It sounds like Kav is hinting that he can’t wait til Black districts will have ceased to exist.

Joshua McNeill Oct 15

@Nonilex How insane does someone have to be to think that racial inequality was solved decades ago?

Shdwdrgn Oct 15

@Nonilex Oh man, can you imagine if they had to redraw their maps and Johnson's district was wiped out? That would really make my day.

FinchHaven sfba Oct 15

"“The #Constitution does not tolerate this system of of government-mandated racial balancing,” Aguiñaga said."

It should be pointed out that conservatives' beloved #Constitution did not include anyone but white male Anglo-Saxon Christians as citizens in the first place

A minor detail that conservatives always seem to miss

#SCOTUS #Law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy