The big news this week is the Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana v. Callais. A racially gerrymandered district in Louisiana was challenged on the basis that creating a black district for racial reasons was unconstitutional. The Court agreed and found that district’s creation unconstitutional.
This ruling is quite important because it has the potential of eliminating something like twelve districts in the Deep South that in addition to being majority black are also exclusively Democrat in their choice of elected officials. That is an enormous switch in the balance of power in the House of Representatives. The question remains to be seen how quickly can these states redraw the districts. If they can do this in time for the 2026 federal elections it would massively increase the Republicans’ chances of retaining a majority in the House.
In addition, going into the 2028 presidential election it would allow other states to adjust their districts strictly by partisan advantage and so the number of seats nationwide would be even larger. Some estimates of as many as twenty-four Democrat controlled seats disappearing are out there.
The severity of this problem has the Democrats in an uproar and they have been talking about getting the government back in their hands as soon as possible and eliminating the filibuster rule to increase the number of seats in the Supreme Court to overturn this decision. Now, that is going to have to wait at least until 2028 since Trump wouldn’t sign such a bill and overriding his veto would require many more senate seats than anyone imagines them to get in 2026.
In the short term this situation is something of a game changer. This has the potential of eliminating a whole industry centered around finding racial inequity around every redistricting action across the country and forcing jurisdictions to prove they are not disenfranchising every racial and ethnic minority under the sun.
On a personal note, I find this decision incredibly encouraging. The present Supreme Court despite Chief Justice Roberts’ social justice leanings has done amazing work in dismantling the unconstitutional decisions that have come down over the last half century. Eliminating reverse discrimination and knocking out the Roe v. Wade decision are huge wins for conservatives and constitutionalists alike. And, God willing, they’ll continue on in this vein and eliminate the Gay Marriage decision and several other overreaches that past courts have unjustly burdened this country with.
The next two things that I’m hoping for is the reversal of Oglethorpe (gay marriage) and the reestablishment of unfettered freedom of association for Americans. As a charter member of the He-Man Woman Hater’s Club, I’m hoping to see the day when a men’s club will not have to admit women just because girls’ feelings are hurt when men get to escape from them for a few hours of screech-free relaxation. If the Bill of Rights still exists as part of the Constitution, then the First Amendment protects our rights to assemble and express our preferences by associating and not associating with people according to our commonalities and differences. Let’s hope these gains continue.