Story perspectives

Jackson Warns Louisiana Redistricting Threatens Black Votes, Alito Defends

5/20/2026

Summary

Story summary

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warned that the Court’s Louisiana redistricting order threatens Black voting power in the South.
She said the Court should avoid a political appearance in an election year and follow its waiting period.
Jackson noted that weakening Section 2 of Voting Rights Act has spurred redistricting in Tennessee, South Carolina and Alabama that could reduce Black representation.
Justice Samuel Alito defended the decision and called Jackson’s arguments groundless.

History

Historical Context

The Voting Rights Act of 1965, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, banned literacy tests and required federal oversight of Southern elections. The 1982 amendment added a results test, passed the House 389–24 and Senate 85–8, and shifted voting-rights cases to Section 2; Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s 2024 warning that the Court’s Louisiana ruling threatens Black voting strength echoes the erosion begun with Shelby County v. Holder (2013).

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Story summary

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warned that the Court’s Louisiana redistricting order threatens Black voting power in the South.
She said the Court should avoid a political appearance in an election year and follow its waiting period.
Jackson noted that weakening Section 2 of Voting Rights Act has spurred redistricting in Tennessee, South Carolina and Alabama that could reduce Black representation.
Justice Samuel Alito defended the decision and called Jackson’s arguments groundless.

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