The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice responded on April 29 to the United States Supreme Court’s 6–3 decision in Louisiana v. Callais.
The Institute said the ruling represents a major setback for voting rights, especially for Black and Brown voters. Nuzhat Chowdhury, Director of the Democracy & Justice Program at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, said, “Today’s decision by the Supreme Court is a devastating blow to the very heart of our democracy and a direct attack on the political power of Black and Brown voters.”
Chowdhury explained that before this decision, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 allowed courts to address racially biased district maps by considering race when making corrections. She said that with this new ruling, “the courts [are] stripped of that tool – making it nearly impossible to rectify inequality in redrawing our districts.”
She added that although the majority opinion claims Section 2 remains intact, its impact has been weakened significantly: “While the Supreme Court majority opinion claims that Section 2 has not been struck down, the impact of the ruling is that it has, as Justice Elena Kagan said in her dissenting opinion, effectively eviscerated the law.” Chowdhury also noted decades of precedent have been dismissed by this decision.
Despite calling today’s ruling a setback, Chowdhury emphasized continued advocacy: “However, we remain undeterred. While today’s ruling is a shattering setback, it’s also a direct call to action.” She called on states like New Jersey to adopt their own voting rights acts into state law and reaffirmed support for local legislation: “We will continue to fight for the passage of the John R. Lewis Voter Empowerment Act of New Jersey – our own New Jersey voting rights act – to ensure that our state is a firewall against the national erosion of civil rights.”
