The Supreme Court’s ruling Wednesday, which destroyed the little that remained of the Voting Rights Act, is an extreme decision. But as my colleague Pema Levy writes, the conservative justices clearly want the public to think otherwise—that their ruling is a mere tweak to the rules.
“Don’t be fooled,” Pema warns. “This is a counter-revolution.”
That’s because this ruling is set to take the country back to the “days when Black and brown voters in many states cast meaningless ballots, having been diluted and gerrymandered into powerlessness.” But don’t just take our word for it. As Justice Elena Kagan wrote in a scathing dissent, Wednesday’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais lays “the groundwork for the largest reduction in minority representation since the era following Reconstruction.”
Kagan also captures the inherent deceit: “Under cover of ‘updat[ing]’ and ‘realign[ing]’ this greatest of statutes, the majority makes a nullity of Section 2 and threatens a half-century’s worth of gains in voting equality.”
That’s as dark a warning as any. For more, read Pema’s report on how the decision lays bare the high court’s true partisan colors.
—Inae Oh
