WASHINGTON, April 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its 6-3 decision in Louisiana v. Callais. The case examined the question: Whether Louisiana’s intentional creation of a second majority-minority congressional district violates the 14th or 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution?
Family Research Council president Tony Perkins, a former Louisiana state representative, celebrated the Court’s decision:
“I applaud the Supreme Court for confronting a difficult but necessary question and recognizing that the Constitution does not permit race to be the predominant factor in how we draw our districts. The promise of equal protection under the law means treating citizens as individuals–not sorting them into categories based on race.
“For too long, Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act has been interpreted in a way that pressures states, like my home state of Louisiana, into drawing districts where race is the defining feature. That approach risks reinforcing the very divisions the Constitution seeks to eliminate.
“As several Justices noted during argument, there must be a limiting principle. Race-conscious remedies were adopted for a specific historical moment, not as a permanent feature of American law. Allowing them to continue indefinitely raises serious constitutional concerns and undermines confidence that our system is fair and neutral.
“This decision is a step toward restoring a colorblind application of the law and ensuring that redistricting is grounded in universal principles, like district compactness, contiguity, and keeping communities together–not compelled racial gerrymandering.”
FRC Action Director Matt Carpenter commented:
“Today is a great day for the Constitution. The Supreme Court’s decision is a significant win for fair districts. For too long Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act has been a Sword of Damocles hanging over state legislatures, forcing them to draw districts based on race due to uncertainty around how a court would interpret Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Today, disparities between the voter registration and turnout of racial groups are almost nonexistent. A fair district is compact, contiguous, and respects local communities. For years, states like Louisiana have felt compelled to gerrymander districts on the basis of race instead,” Carpenter concluded.
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SOURCE Family Research Council
