WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Louisiana v. Callais that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act applies only to intentional racial discrimination in redistricting, weakening protections against racial gerrymandering. The conservative majority found that a Louisiana congressional district crafted to comply with Section 2 was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.

Following the ruling, Republican calls have begun for new rounds of map drawing for the U.S. House of Representatives. The district at the center of the case is represented by Cleo Fields.

Redistricting analysts identified at least 15 House districts from Louisiana eastward to North Carolina as at risk of elimination, with Republican-controlled state legislatures in the South expected to eliminate some House districts that have sizable racial minority populations and are currently represented by Black Democrats. Newly redrawn districts in Missouri and Texas were not included in that count. Some Democratic-led states may consider undoing certain majority-minority districts to spread out their voters and try to pick up additional seats, while some GOP-led states may choose to maintain majority-minority districts to pack Democratic-leaning voters for partisan advantage.

U.S. Representative Yvette Clarke condemned the decision. "With this decision in Louisiana v. Callais, the Supreme Court has opened the door to a coordinated attack on Black voters across this country. This is an outright power grab. It's about silencing Black voices, dismantling majority Black districts and rigging the maps so that politicians can choose their voters instead of the other way around," she said.

Law professor and associate dean Atiba Ellis also criticized the outcome. "This could distort politics in Washington substantially by preventing communities of color from genuinely being heard. I think it highly ironic that under the guise of a colorblind Constitution communities of color in a diversifying America could lose the lion's share of their voice in government," Ellis said.

U.S. Representative Terri Sewell plans to revise her Voting Rights Act bill to reflect court cases that have tried to gut the law. "Listen, we cannot give up. We're not going to give up," Sewell said.

For about 100 years after the Civil War, Black-represented districts in Congress numbered in the single digits or at zero, and the Congress that began in 1877 had four fewer House districts represented by Black lawmakers than the previous session. Since the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the number of House districts represented by Black members has grown to 63, making up around 14% of the House.