(AURN News) — Today, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear one of the most consequential voting rights cases in modern history, Louisiana v. Callais.
At stake is Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act — the federal law that protects Black voters from discrimination at the ballot box.
The case began after Louisiana’s Legislature drew only one majority-Black district out of six, even though about a third of the state’s population is Black.
Federal courts ordered lawmakers to create a second district. But now, a group of white voters says that move violates their rights.
If the court sides with them, it could dismantle what’s left of the Voting Rights Act — reducing Black representation in Congress by as much as 30%, according to civil rights groups.
April England-Albright of Black Voters Matter wrote in an op-ed for “Word In Black” that in today’s hearing, SCOTUS “can either defend what’s left of this nation’s only federal voting rights protections, or it can continue its dismantling of democracy, Black autonomy and freedom.”
Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.
