Upcoming Case Preview | Louisiana v. Callais | Redistricting Reckoning: The Race to Refine Race, Representation, and Voting Rights

Louisiana v. Callais | Case No. 24-109 | Oral Argument Date: 10/15/25 | Docket Link: Here

Question Presented: Whether the State's intentional creation of a second majority-minority congressional district violates the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

Other Referenced Episodes:

• August 19th – Road Work Ahead: How Four 2024 Cases May Be Reshaping First Amendment Scrutiny | Here

Overview

This episode examines Louisiana v. Callais, a potentially transformative voting rights case that could reshape Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and minority representation nationwide. After ordering reargument and supplemental briefing, the Supreme Court confronts whether race-conscious redistricting to create majority-minority districts violates the very constitutional amendments the VRA was designed to enforce, creating a fundamental paradox at the intersection of civil rights law and equal protection doctrine.

Episode Roadmap

Opening: A Constitutional Paradox

• Supreme Court's unusual reargument order and supplemental question

• From routine redistricting challenge to existential VRA question

• Constitutional paradox: using civil rights laws to potentially strike down civil rights protections

Constitutional Framework: The Reconstruction Amendments

• Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment enforcement clauses

• Congressional power versus Equal Protection constraints

• Strict scrutiny as constitutional roadblock for race-conscious government action

Background: From Robinson to Callais

• 2022 Robinson v. Ardoin litigation establishing Section 2 violation

• Complex procedural ping-pong through federal courts

• Louisiana's creation of SB8-6 with second majority-Black district

• March 2025 oral argument leading to reargument order

Section 2 Framework: The Gingles Test

• Effects test versus intent requirement

• Three-part analysis for Section 2 violations

• Majority-minority districts as remedial tool

Legal Arguments: Competing Constitutional Visions

Appellants' Defense (Louisiana & Robinson Intervenors):

• Congressional authority under Reconstruction Amendments

• Section 2 compliance as compelling governmental interest

• Narrow tailoring through built-in Gingles limitations

Appellees' Challenge (Callais):

• Section 2 fails congruence and proportionality review

• Students for Fair Admissions requires specific discrimination evidence

• "Good reasons" test provides insufficient constitutional protection

Oral Argument Preview: Key Questions for Reargument

• Temporal scope of congressional enforcement power

• SFFA's impact on voting rights doctrine

• Practical consequences for existing majority-minority districts

• Federalism tensions in electoral oversight

Episode Highlights

Constitutional Tension: The same Reconstruction Amendments used to justify the VRA in 1965 now being invoked to potentially strike it down in 2025

Procedural Drama: Court's unusual reargument order signals fundamental doctrinal questions about VRA's constitutional foundations

Practical Stakes: Could eliminate dozens of majority-minority congressional districts and significantly reduce minority representation

Historical Evolution: From 1982 Section 2 effects test designed to combat discrimination to 2025 argument that it perpetuates discrimination

SFFA Integration: How 2023 affirmative action ruling's anti-classification principle