NEW: Tomorrow the Supreme Court will rehear a case that could let the GOP grab 19 new, safe U.S. House seats by gutting Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
I wrote for @Slate about how the far-right justices seem ready to help Republicans lock in one party rule for decades. ⬇️
After a court found Louisiana’s congressional map violated the VRA by weakening Black voters’ power, the GOP legislature was ordered to draw a 2nd majority-Black district.
When they fixed the map, non-Black voters sued, saying fixing the discrimination was itself discrimination.
The argument's logic twists the 14th + 15th Amendments, created to protect voting rights, in an attempt to destroy them. It should've been laughed out of court.
But a lower court embraced it and an appeal was accepted by the Supreme Court.
Louisiana’s GOP officials + the plaintiffs who sued to overturn the discriminatory congressional map joined forces to urge the Supreme Court to overturn that ruling.
But months later, when the court ordered a rehearing, those same GOP officials completely reversed their stance.
If the far-right justices side with Louisiana, they'd effectively eliminate Section 2 of the VRA, the main safeguard against racially discriminatory redistricting.
That would mean their Orwellian logic (fixing racial discrimination is discrimination) becomes the new normal.
A new report from @FairFightAction + @BlackVotersMtr finds striking down Section 2 of the VRA could let Republicans grab 19 more safe U.S. House seats.
Full report: bit.ly/VRA-under-atta…
What we’re witnessing is part of a broader pattern.
Just like the Supreme Court stripped away reproductive rights by overturning Roe v. Wade, it’s now threatening to take away another foundational American freedom:
the freedom to be represented fairly.
The path forward is narrow, but it exists – and demands urgency.
The court has shown what it intends to do. The question now is how we will respond.
Read the full piece in @Slate for more details – and share to help spread the word. slate.com/news-and-polit…
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