1. United States
2. Calif.
3. Letter

The Supreme Court just gutted the Voting Rights Act, and Congress needs to act now to restore its protections. The conservative majority's decision in Louisiana v. Callais effectively dismantled Section 2's protections against racial gerrymandering, stacking new and nearly insurmountable hurdles on plaintiffs while blessing partisan gerrymandering as a legal shield against racial discrimination claims. Black representation in Congress will plummet as Southern Republicans move to eliminate majority-minority districts. This is not a hypothetical threat — it is already the plan. This is the third time the Roberts Court has taken a sledgehammer to the VRA: first in Shelby County, then Brnovich, now Callais. Congress overrode the Court once before, after Mobile v. Borden, by passing an updated VRA that explicitly nullified the Court's intent requirement. It can do so again. New legislation must restore the discriminatory-effects standard, close the partisan-gerrymandering loophole Callais created, and protect majority-minority districts from being dismantled under the guise of race-neutral redistricting. Justice Kagan was right: only Congress has the right to say the Voting Rights Act is no longer needed. Please use that authority.