California Democrats freak out after bombshell Supreme Court docket ruling on Louisiana redistricting

A main Supreme Court docket ruling on congressional redistricting has California’s most outstanding Democrats quaking of their boots.

The excessive courtroom on Wednesday struck down Louisiana’s electoral map, discovering the Pelican State unconstitutionally added a second majority-black Home district. The ruling successfully makes it tougher to make use of claims of racial discrimination as the first issue when drawing political maps that favor sure voters.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom portrayed the ruling as a rollback of voting rights for minority teams.

“The Supreme Court docket majority continues to intestine the Voting Rights Act and very important protections for our democracy and truthful illustration,” he wrote on X.

Newsom is the face of the state’s personal gerrymandering effort to fight Trump-backed congressional redistrictings in pink states like Texas.

He referred to as for “nationwide reforms” to “guarantee our founding beliefs and the best experiment in democracy on earth makes it one other 250 years.”

“California won’t sit again, we’ll proceed to uphold what makes us American, and take motion — again and again — to safeguard our democracy for the generations to come back,” Newsom added.

State Lawyer Normal Rob Bonta, who has been defending California’s gerrymandering effort in courtroom, referred to as the choice “deeply disappointing.”

“Since 1965, Part 2 of the Voting Rights Act has helped make sure that all Individuals, no matter their race, have an equal alternative to train their constitutional proper to vote,” Bonta mentioned.

“Whereas the complete influence of this ruling continues to be unsure, we all know from previous expertise that selections putting down, or successfully gutting, provisions of the Voting Rights Act are sometimes adopted by new state legal guidelines that limit entry to the poll for voters of shade.”

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi referred to as the choice a “devastating blow” to the Voting Rights Act.

“The results shall be felt throughout the nation: fewer voices heard, fewer communities represented and a democracy diminished,” she mentioned.

“Congress should urgently cross the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Development Act to revive the complete energy of the Voting Rights Act earlier than this newest blow turns into deadly.”

That act would require states with current histories of voter discrimination to acquire federal approval earlier than altering voting legal guidelines.

California Republicans, alternatively, celebrated the ruling.

State Assemblymember David Tangipa, who sued Newsom over the gerrymandering push, warned California to “get able to redistrict.”

“No extra prophylactic racial gerrymanders,” Tangipa mentioned. “From the Prop 50 congressional maps to state legislative seats, the place race closely formed districts (esp. for Latino ‘communities of curiosity’ with out confirmed dilution), it’s time for simply, race-neutral maps that symbolize all Californians, not racial balancing.

---

Obtain The California Publish App, observe us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters