DEI hire and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson just had a really bad time in Oral Arguments.
Because this can get a little complicated, here’s a quick summary to bring you up to speed:
- The Supreme Court heard a major case this week about the Voting Rights Act of 1965, focusing on whether states can legally draw election maps based on race.
- The case, Louisiana v. Callais, challenges the creation of a second majority-Black district in Louisiana under Section 2 of the VRA, which bars voting practices that weaken minority voting power.
- A three-judge federal panel had earlier ordered Louisiana to add the second majority-Black district, prompting a lawsuit by white voters in 2024.
- During oral arguments, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson engaged in several heated exchanges with Louisiana Solicitor General Benjamin Aguiñaga, repeatedly interrupting and raising her voice.
- Jackson argued that states have a compelling interest in remedying racial discrimination in voting, while Aguiñaga contended that plaintiffs in prior cases were simply requesting an extra majority-Black district.
- The justice insisted that identifying voting discrimination and crafting a remedy are separate legal steps, pushing back forcefully against Aguiñaga’s framing.
- The conservative majority, including Justice Clarence Thomas, has expressed skepticism toward race-based redistricting, questioning whether Section 2 remains constitutional in that context.
- A ruling limiting race-based district creation could substantially narrow the reach of the Voting Rights Act, reshaping redistricting laws nationwide.
- Such a decision might empower Republican-led states to redraw maps with fewer race-based considerations — potentially making some Democratic districts more competitive.
- The outcome could have major implications for the 2026 midterm elections and beyond, affecting both federal and state-level representation.
As they say, sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words so here is a picture to show you what’s at stake and why race-baited Ketanji Brown Jackson is so worked up into a dither: