Media outrage over Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act decision collides with reality |
Opinion
Media outrage over Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act decision collides with reality
Justice Alito's majority opinion applied existing statutes and case law without overturning any prior cases
By John Shu Fox News
Published April 30, 2026 11:50am EDT
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The U.S. Supreme Court released its 6-3 Louisiana v. Callais opinion, holding that race-based gerrymandering of congressional districts to purportedly comply with § 2 of the Voting Rights Act ("VRA," 52 U.S.C. § 10301) is not a narrowly tailored compelling governmental interest and therefore unconstitutional. Justice Samuel Alito wrote the opinion, which straightforwardly applied existing statutes and case law. It did not overturn any prior cases. Justice Elena Kagan dissented.
§ 2 prohibits states from denying or abridging "the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color," and that violations are shown if, "based on the totality of the circumstances," the "political processes" are not "equally open to participation." § 2 also provides "no right to have members of a protected class elected in numbers equal to their proportion in the population." Accordingly, the VRA guarantees all voters equal opportunity to vote and simultaneously allows states to draw their electoral districts based on compactness, contiguousness, geographical boundaries, political subdivisions, protecting incumbents, etc. — but not........