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In a back-and-forth with Nelson about time limits, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said that the #VotingRightsAct section in question, “doesn’t need a time limit, because it’s not doing any work other than just pointing us to the direction of where we might need to do something.”
Nelson said it would be “reckless” to determine, “somehow if Section 2 is no longer needed simply because it has been so successful in rooting out racial discrimination in voting.”
Asked by Justice #Sotomayor to delineate differences between the current case & a 2023 decision that dealt with affirmative action, Nelson argued that the prior case “involved the diversity rationale involving an admissions process with a university, not a statute.”
In 2023, #SCOTUS struck down #AffirmativeAction in college admissions, declaring race cannot be a factor & forcing institutions of higher education to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies.
The court’s conservative majority effectively overturned cases reaching back 45 years in invalidating admissions plans at Harvard & the University of North Carolina, the nation’s oldest private & public colleges, respectively.
#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy
Now the justices will hear from J. Benjamin Aguiñaga, #Louisiana’s solicitor general. The state is no longer defending the disputed map.
#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy
#Gorsuch appeared skeptical of Nelson’s argument, pressing her on how & when race can be used in the drawing of maps. His questions cut to the heart of the questions the justices are considering today.
“You’re saying sometimes acceptable for a federal district court to order a map that intentionally discriminates on the basis of race?” he asked. The #Louisiana maps at issue today weren’t drawn by a judge, but courts can order maps re-drawn under the #VRA.
Nelson pushed back. It’s not #discrimination for states to keep race in mind as they draw voting districts to comply with the #VRA & ensure representation for minority votes, she argued.
Under questioning from Justice Elena #Kagan, Nelson describes as “catastrophic” the impact of Secton 2 of the #VotingRightsAct ceasing to prevent vote dissolution, including in legislative districts beyond #Congress.
#SCOTUS #law #VotingRights #VRA #CivilRights #ActivistCourt #WhiteSupremacy
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