WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that using race as a basis for drawing electoral districts violates the U.S. Constitution and cannot be justified under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The decision struck down Louisiana's second majority-Black congressional district, represented by Democrat Cleo Fields, as relying too heavily on race.

Chief Justice John Roberts described the challenged district as a "snake" that stretches more than 200 miles to link parts of the Shreveport, Alexandria, Lafayette and Baton Rouge areas. Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act has sometimes forced states "to engage in the very race-based discrimination that the Constitution forbids." He also wrote, "That map is an unconstitutional gerrymander."

Justice Elena Kagan dissented. "The court's decision will set back the foundational right Congress granted of racial equality in electoral opportunity," she wrote. Kagan added, "The consequences are likely to be far-reaching and grave. Today's decision renders Section 2 all but a dead letter."

The case originated with a group of African-American voters who filed a lawsuit in 2022 arguing that Louisiana's map violated Section 2 by diluting Black voting strength and depriving minority voters of the opportunity to elect their preferred candidates. A federal judge in Baton Rouge ruled for those voters and ordered Louisiana to enact a remedial map with a second majority-minority congressional district.

The Louisiana legislature adopted a remedial map in 2024 reconfiguring the state's 6th Congressional District to comply with the Voting Rights Act. Louisiana Republicans said they crafted the map to protect GOP incumbents Mike Johnson, Steve Scalise and Julia Letlow. Fields, a Black Democrat, was elected to represent the 6th District in November 2024. The White House called the ruling a "complete and total victory for American voters."

The map was subsequently challenged by a group of mainly white voters, who argued that using race to create districts violated the U.S. Constitution.

Nearly 70 of the 435 congressional districts are protected by Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, according to election law expert Nicholas Stephanopoulos. Florida is redrawing its legislative maps to increase the number of Republican seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the ruling could disadvantage incumbent Democrats in districts with large minority populations. Other Republican-led states, such as Tennessee and Mississippi, could redraw their legislative maps following the decision.