What happened? A summary of the Louisiana v. Callais voting decision

The ruling re-worked 40 years of precedent for Black voters

Wrecking ball "re-working" a building. image credit: Shutterstock

So we’re all on the same page, let’s look at the Brennan Center for Justice’s overview of the court’s opinion about the case:  

On April 29, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6–3 opinion by Justice Samuel Alito that the configuration of Louisiana’s second Black-majority district was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, affirming the judgment of the three-judge district court below. 

In addition to striking down the map as a racial gerrymander, the court’s opinion significantly reworked the 40-year-old establishing in Thornburg v. Gingles, making three changes that collectively will make it much harder for voters of color to win cases filed under Section 2 of the Voting Right Act. 

First, the ruling requires illustrative (sample) maps submitted by Section 2 plaintiffs as part of their proof meet all of a jurisdiction’s political objectives, including goals related to the protection of incumbents. 

Second, the decision requires that plaintiffs to show that the racial bloc voting required under Gingles framework “cannot be explained by partisan affiliation.”