The Supreme Court recently signaled what could be the end of the Voting Rights Act, according to one expert.
James Sample, a professor of constitutional law at Hofstra University, appeared on MSNBC on Saturday to discuss Texas GOP “re-redistricting,” and other key topics. Earlier in the interview, Sample said the current war over gerrymandering in Texas, California, and other states is the result of Chief Justice John Roberts’ Supreme Court.
After that, one of the hosts noted another case that could have “major impacts.”
Sample responded, “So, Louisiana is one of the states that in which there is gerrymandering and redistricting in order to have majority minority districts, the idea being under the Voting Rights Act, there are states like Louisiana where a third of the population is Black. But without majority minority districts, the black community ends up getting next to nothing by way of representation and perhaps even nothing.”
He continued, saying, “So, in 2020, in the Census, Louisiana ended up with two seats that were majority minority districts. The case is called Louisiana v. Callais, which was before the court last term and was held over by the court for this October.”
“The court on Friday night (when do you want to bury a story?) released a very cryptic order in which it said very discreetly, “Is a majority minority district inconsistent with the Constitution?” he added. “Which is in essence a declaration that the court is ready to put the final nail in the coffin of the Voting Rights Act. That Louisiana case could well be that final nail.”