In Their Own Words: What Louisiana v. Callais Means to the Voters Going to the Supreme Court to Protect Their Rights
The U.S. Supreme Court is officially in session. And, on Oct. 15, the Legal Defense Fund is returning to present oral argument — for the second time — in Louisiana v. Callais.
Louisiana v. Callais is a redistricting case that will decide the future of Louisiana’s congressional map. The Court will determine if Louisiana lawmakers properly balanced constitutional and other federal voting protections — namely, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) — when enacting a new congressional map with two majority-Black districts in 2024. Louisiana v. Callais is the latest attempt to erode protections enshrined in the VRA by aiming to limit Section 2’s application in the redistricting process.
A Winding Road
After years of litigation, during which multiple federal courts found that the previous Louisiana congressional map likely violated the VRA, the courts ordered the Louisiana State Legislature to pass a map that complied with the VRA by including two majority-Black districts in order to provide Black voters with an equal opportunity to elect their candidates of choice. In January 2024, the legislature passed a map, SB 8, that included a second majority-Black district, which was quickly signed into law.
Shortly after the new map’s passage, a group of “non-African American voters” filed a lawsuit challenging the newly enacted map as a racial gerrymander. LDF intervened in the lawsuit to represent the interests of Black voters to maintain a fair and representative map. After a divided panel of federal court judges overturned SB 8, the case was appealed to the Supreme Court, and LDF presented oral argument in March.
Back to the Supreme Court
This summer, the Court issued an order for reargument, a rare occurrence — and a signal to litigators and advocates that the Court is weighing a highly consequential decision.
The reargument focuses on the specific legal question of whether Louisiana violated the 14th or 15th Amendments by creating a second majority-Black congressional district. The reargument raises critical questions about how Section 2 of the VRA — which prohibits racial discrimination in voting policies and district maps, and is among the VRA’s most critical provisions to safeguard fair representation — applies in Louisiana, specifically, and could affect whether courts and lawmakers can continue to use the law’s tools to remedy maps that dilute the voting power of Black people and other voters of color nationwide.
This case is about more than lines on a congressional map. It’s about the opportunity for long-overdue equal representation for Black voters in Louisiana and about whether communities of color across the country can have meaningful representation.
In Their Own Words
Read below to see why, in their own words, this case means so much to LDF’s clients.
Edgar Cage
“This case is a very important and critical step in getting justice and equal opportunity for me and people who look like me. Having been born and reared in the segregated South, it has been a lifelong struggle to level the playing field and be given freedoms stated and guaranteed by the Constitution. We have had to fight for what others have been given, and we have been denied. Justice delayed is justice denied. I am hoping this case will balance the scales of justice, so people like me won’t have to continually fight, and so we all have equal opportunities, respect, and dignity.”
Dr. Dorothy Nairne
“Living in rural Louisiana in the shadow of enslavement and Jim Crow, I know what it means to hang onto hope that one day we will have real opportunities to fulfill our potential and contribute our talents to the state’s economy. That hope depends on fair representation and on keeping the hard-fought congressional districts where African Americans have a voice. Louisiana vs. Callais is a turning point: will our communities finally be able to go to bat for us? The future of justice, dignity, and economic possibility hangs in the balance for Louisiana and the rest of the country.”
Ambrose Sims
“A second minority congressional district is very personal. Growing up in Louisiana in the 1960s, I was a part of the voiceless experiencing segregation in public accommodations, voter suppression, and supposedly separate but equal education. Having a second minority-majority congressional district in Louisiana will eliminate one of the remaining vestiges of the denial of the rights of one-third of the population of the state, creating a much-long- overdue voice.”
Michael McClanahan
“To me and my village, this case is a battle for the right to be heard. It’s about strengthening the power of the Black voice, which is being stifled every day. It’s personal in that I have read the civil rights history of America and the role of Louisiana. Today, I have the opportunity to participate and make history through my very own work on this case. And I remain hopeful that the weight of history pressing against the promise of justice brings about the permanent relief that can’t be erased.”
Dr. Alice Washington
“When the Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed, I was a young woman starting my freshman year at Southern University. I was so encouraged because America was becoming more progressive, and I felt assured of full participation in our democracy. Now, 60 years later, when the courts allowed us to vote under the new map in the 2024 election, I was overjoyed. Indeed, we did elect our first representative for a second majority-Black district. This new map means everything to me. More than anything, it assures fair representation. My vote really does count.”
Martha Davis
“I joined the case because I felt it unfair that the two largest cities in Louisiana by population, that happen to be majority Black, should be in the same district. Congressional maps can be drawn in many ways, but I could see that they were being drawn to intentionally dilute my vote.”
Dr. Press L. Robinson Sr.
“As a community activist committed to the continuous improvement of the lives that can be lived, I recognize the utmost importance of ensuring that all of our rights are protected. And there is none more essential than the opportunity to elect representatives of our own choosing.”
All Rise
As oral argument day approaches on Oct. 15, these powerful reflections will be top of mind as LDF, allies, and advocates fight to protect voting rights for Louisianians and for all people in the United States.
If you’d like to get more involved in supporting this work, consider the following:
Visit LDF’s Louisiana v. Callais case page to learn more about the case.
Follow and repost updates from LDF’s platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, X, and Substack.
On Oct. 15, join voting rights advocates outside the Supreme Court at 9 a.m. ET to rally for voting rights. Or, listen to the oral argument livestream here.
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