On April 29, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Louisiana v. Callais that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act “imposes liability only when the evidence supports a strong inference that the State intentionally drew its districts” to give minority voters less opportunity. Justice Kagan called it rendering the Voting Rights Act “all but a dead letter.” Eight days later, Tennessee eliminated its only Black-majority congressional district.
The Equal Justice Initiative found Alabama’s prison homicide rate more than 600% above the 2001-2014 national average. About 70% of the DOJ Civil Rights Division’s lawyers were leaving by May 2025, NPR reported. 2,086 Confederate memorials remain on public land. South Carolina’s Senate voted in April 2026 to ban QR codes and informational plaques on protected monuments.
This page covers each of these fights, the record behind them and what you can do.
Redistricting After the Callais Ruling
The Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais ruling rewrote the rules for challenging racial gerrymandering. Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act used to protect minority voters from maps that diluted their political power, even without proof of racist intent. The Court now requires evidence supporting a strong inference of intentional discrimination: that the state drew its districts to give minority voters less opportunity because of race, not only that the map has that effect.
”The majority’s rule renders Section 2 all but a dead letter.”
Justice Elena Kagan, dissenting in Louisiana v. Callais. She read portions aloud from the bench.States moved fast. Tennessee eliminated its only Black-majority district in 8 days, carving Memphis’s 9th Congressional District into three white-majority, Republican-leaning pieces. The NAACP sued hours later.
On June 2, 2026, the Supreme Court let Alabama use its 2023 map for this year’s elections, even though a lower court had found that map intentionally discriminated against Black voters. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp called a June special session, but legislative leaders declined to redraw while appeals were pending. Louisiana lost the second Black-majority district the case was about.
States that lost or redrew maps after the Callais ruling
| State | What happened | Speed |
|---|---|---|
| Tennessee | Eliminated only Black-majority district (9th CD, Memphis) | 8 days |
| Alabama | Map vacated by SCOTUS during primary elections | Immediate |
| Georgia | Special session called for June 17 to redraw | Weeks |
| Louisiana | Lost court-ordered 2nd Black-majority district | Ruling itself |
Louisiana v. Callais (April 2026) rewrote the Gingles framework. States acted within days.
NBC News / Democracy Docket →Prison Conditions in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana
Alabama is the only state facing two systemwide federal lawsuits over unconstitutional prison conditions. The Equal Justice Initiative reported a prison homicide rate of more than 34 per 100,000 people incarcerated, more than 600% above the 2001-2014 national average.
The state has spent over $57 million on legal costs, with $42 million going to a single law firm defending the prison system. Settlement payments to victims totaled $4.4 million. That is about 10 times what went to victims in settlements.
Mississippi’s Parchman had at least 42 homicides over the last decade. Local prosecutors filed charges in only 16 of them. Eight convictions. Two came only after news coverage.
Louisiana reversed bipartisan criminal justice reforms in 2024. Governor Landry eliminated parole for anyone convicted after August 1, 2024, and required prisoners to serve 85% of their sentences. The reforms he reversed had cut the nonviolent prison population by 55% and the overall population by 26% between 2017 and 2021.
Racial Gaps Under Restrictive Voting Laws
Studies of recent voting laws find larger effects on Black, Latino and Asian voters, as the Texas mail ballot data below shows.
Mail ballot rejection rates by race after Texas SB 1 took effect
| Group | Rejection rate |
|---|---|
| Asian voters | 19% |
| Black voters | 16.6% |
| Latino voters | 16.1% |
| White voters | 12% |
Brennan Center analysis of Texas SB 1 impact on mail ballot rejection rates.
Brennan Center →In Georgia, drop boxes in the four metro Atlanta counties of Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett fell from 107 to 25 under SB 202, NPR found; about half of those counties’ voters are people of color. Statewide, drop boxes fell from 295 in 2020 to 178 in 2022, according to court filings.
After the Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby County decision ended preclearance, the Brennan Center found purge rates in previously covered counties were 40% higher than elsewhere. Georgia’s Secretary of State purged 471,000 registrations in 2025. The NAACP estimated over 200,000 voter challenges were filed in Georgia in 2024 alone.
A Brennan Center study found the damage lasts. Voters whose ballots were rejected under Texas SB 1 were measurably less likely to vote two years later. A rejected application led to a 16 percentage point decrease in turnout in the next general election.
Confederate Monuments and Heritage Laws
2,086 Confederate memorials remain on public land across the United States, including 685 monuments. Only 2 were removed in 2024, down from 73 in 2021. Alabama alone has 175.
South Carolina’s Senate voted in April 2026 to expand the Heritage Act, the 26-year-old law that protects Confederate monuments. The bill would ban QR codes or informational plaques that provide historical context about the people the statues honor. It would extend protections to all memorials on public property and allow private groups to sue to enforce the ban.
A Trump executive order, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” seeks to halt removals and restore toppled statues. The National Park Service announced plans to restore a statue of Confederate General Albert Pike.
Civil Rights Enforcement at the Justice Department
About 70% of the DOJ Civil Rights Division’s lawyers were leaving by May 2025, NPR reported. Trial attorneys in the Criminal Section dropped from roughly 40 to no more than 13. Over 200 departed employees signed a letter calling it a “coordinated effort” to undermine career staff.
Hate crimes reached 11,679 incidents in 2024, the second-highest year on record, and the FBI counted 10,881 in 2025. In 2024, anti-Black crimes were three times the next category, and race-based hate crimes were up 87% over the previous decade.
The Civil Rights Division investigates and prosecutes these cases.
What You Can Do About Civil Rights
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Check your voter registration and your district. Maps are being redrawn. Verify your registration and confirm your current congressional district at vote.org. If your state held a special redistricting session, your district may have changed.
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Know your rights during a voter challenge. If someone challenges your registration at the polls, you have the right to cast a provisional ballot. Do not leave. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund has state-specific voter protection guides.
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Contact your representatives about the Voting Rights Act. The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would restore the preclearance protections the Supreme Court struck down in 2013. Send a letter or call your senators.
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Follow the prison cases. Alabama’s DOJ trial and Mississippi’s Parchman oversight fight are the two most consequential prison conditions cases in the country. The Equal Justice Initiative and the Marshall Project track developments.
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Ask your local officials about Confederate monuments. If your city or county has a Confederate memorial, ask your council member whether they support adding historical context, or whether your state’s heritage law prevents it. Show up at the meeting.
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Support organizations doing this work. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Brennan Center for Justice, Campaign Legal Center, Equal Justice Initiative, and SPLC are on the front lines. They need funding and public pressure to sustain their cases.
Last updated October 3, 2026