Live updates: SCOTUS arguments on Louisiana redistricting case that could undercut Voting Rights Act

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority signaled deep skepticism today over a second majority Black district drawn in Louisiana, despite a lower court ruling that found the district was likely necessary to respect the landmark Voting Rights Act.

At issue is a second majority Black district drawn in Louisiana following the 2020 census that elected Rep. Cleo Fields, a Democrat, to the House. The state drew that district in response to a lower court that found the state likely violated the landmark 1965 civil rights law with the initial version of its map.

Key to the argument was Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who just two years ago was the deciding vote upholding the Voting Rights Act provision in a case involving Alabama’s map. This time around, Kavanaugh repeatedly leaned into two points suggesting he had reservations with Louisiana’s map.

Kavanaugh, a conservative, and others signaled an interest in the Trump administration’s approach to the Louisiana case. The Trump administration sided with Louisiana – and against the Black voters – but in a way that would likely erode the power of the Voting Rights Act while not gutting it entirely.

Kavanaugh also returned to an argument about whether the Voting Rights Act can indefinitely require the drawing of “remedial” majority-minority districts. In other contexts, including college admissions, the court has ruled that such race-based decision making must have some sort of time limit.

At one point, Kavanaugh quoted from earlier decisions suggesting that “race-based districting” embarks the nation on a “most dangerous course.”

Early on, Chief Justice John Roberts – who joined with Kavanaugh and the court’s liberals in the Alabama case two years ago – quickly sought to draw a distinction between that outcome and the Louisiana case, suggesting he didn’t see the earlier precedent as controlling this case.

The court’s three-justice liberal wing focused much of its fire on Congress’s intent in enacting the landmark Voting Rights Act in 1965: to root out discrimination that targeted African American voters. They have questioned the Trump administration’s approach, suggesting it would require plaintiffs to meet a much higher standard than is required by the Voting Rights Act to find discriminatory maps.