Opinion

JONATHAN TURLEY: Calling the court illegitimate is the left’s latest assault on the Constitution

The Voting Rights Act ruling sparked calls to pack the court, but the real campaign started long before this case

By Jonathan Turley Fox News

Published May 1, 2026 2:56pm EDT

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Democrats decry Supreme Court ruling that rolls back key provision of Voting Rights Act

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The Supreme Court's decision in Louisiana v. Callais took 36 pages to explain why Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is about combating intentional racial discrimination, not allowing racial gerrymandering. However, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wrapped it up in one word: "illegitimate."

Jeffries was not speaking of the case, but of the court. The man who would become the next speaker of the House if Democrats retake power in November has joined other radicals in denying the legitimacy of the nation's highest court.

Just for the record, the Supreme Court did not strike down Section 2, but it said neither the law nor the Constitution allows legislators to manipulate district lines to guarantee that candidates of a particular race will be elected. It was written not to give any race an advantage, but to prevent a state from creating a disadvantage for voters based on their race. The act prevents any state from intentionally drawing districts "to afford minority voters less opportunity because of their race."

This is a matter upon which people of good faith can disagree. Many of the justices have long opposed racial criteria in areas ranging from college admissions to voting districts. Chief Justice John Roberts stated it bluntly in 2006: "It is a sordid business, this divvying us up by race." Like others, Roberts abhors racial discrimination but declared in another case that "the way to stop........

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