Supreme Court Rules 6-3 That Louisiana's Second Majority-Black District Violates Equal Protection Clause

U.S. Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision in Louisiana v. Callais on April 30, 2026, affirming a three-judge federal district court's holding that Louisiana's congressional map with a second majority-Black district violated the equal-protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Justice Samuel Alito wrote the opinion for the six-Justice majority. The Court narrowed the meaning of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act to require intentional discrimination, as interpreted before the 1982 congressional amendment. The Supreme Court adjusted the tests from the 1986 case Thornburg v.

Gingles to refocus Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act on intentional racial discrimination. A federal district court in 2022 found that Louisiana likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by creating only one majority-Black electoral district in its map drawn after the 2020 census. Louisiana created a second majority-Black district in response to the 2022 federal district court finding.

A group of non-Black voters challenged Louisiana's new map with the second majority-Black district as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.

Six Supreme Court justices handed down the ruling in the Louisiana congressional map case on April 29, 2026. W. Shannon disagreed with former President Obama on the Supreme Court's racial redistricting ruling.

W. Shannon said race should not be a deciding factor in drawing districts. The decision follows historical precedents, including events from 1901 when George H. White, a Republican congressman from North Carolina, addressed the 56th United States Congress for the last time.

George H. White was the only Black member of the 56th United States Congress. North Carolina passed legislation in 1901 making George H. White's re-election impossible.

Callais addresses ongoing tensions in electoral districting under the Voting Rights Act.