Nevada’s Horsford: Supreme Court decision on redistricting ‘a license to silence Black voters’

Congressman Steven Horsford, D-Nev., speaks during a campaign rally for a Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024, in North Las Vegas. Photo by: Steve Marcus/AP

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday significantly weakened a landmark Civil Rights-era law that had boosted minority representation in Congress and beyond, overturning a majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana and paving the way for further redistricting that could help Republicans maintain control of the House.

The court’s conservative majority ruled 6-3 that the Louisiana district held by Democrat Cleo Fields had placed excessive emphasis on race. Chief Justice John Roberts had likened the 6th Congressional District to a “snake” winding more than 200 miles through parts of Shreveport, Alexandria, Lafayette and Baton Rouge.

“That map is an unconstitutional gerrymander,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the six conservatives.

When President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law more than 60 years ago, he hailed it as "a triumph for freedom as huge as any victory that has ever been won on any battlefield." Section 2 of the act prohibits any voting law or practice that discriminates based on race, color or membership in a language minority group. The section is the primary legal tool minority voters and civil rights groups have used to challenge redistricting maps that "dilute" their voting power.

The decision wasn’t well received in Nevada, with Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar saying in a statement that he “will not stand for any attempts to limit the ability of Nevadans to exercise their fundamental right to vote.”

In her dissent for the court's three liberals, Justice Elena Kagan wrote that the court’s “gutting of Section 2 puts that achievement in peril.”

Her sentiment was shared by former President Barack Obama, who said the decision showed “how a majority of the current court seems intent on abandoning its vital role in ensuring equal participation in our democracy.”

Aguilar agreed.

“This decision is an insult to the memory of so many who fought, bled and died for the right to vote, because they understood that the ballot box is the one place we are all equal, no matter who you are,” he said. “That sacred promise is enshrined in our Constitution, and I will never back down from defending it.”

The decision gives states permission to use partisan gerrymandering as a license to silence Black voters and voters of color, U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., said in a statement.

“It threatens to erase fair districts across the nation and entrench power in the hands of the few,” Horsford continued. “Politicians should not choose their voters. Voters should choose their politicians. That is the foundation of a democracy, and today’s ruling puts that foundation at risk.”

Meanwhile, Nevada Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald praised the decision.

“The Supreme Court rightly rejected the idea that Americans should be divided by race when drawing congressional districts," McDonald stated. "For too long, race-based mandates have distorted the redistricting process, putting politics and identity ahead of fair representation.

"Nevadans, like all Americans, deserve maps that reflect their communities and not political lines drawn to meet racial targets. This is a win for fairness and the integrity of our elections.”

Alito wrote that “allowing race to play any part in government decision-making represents a departure from the constitutional rule that applies in almost every other context.” He said Section 2 is effectively limited to instances of intentional discrimination, a very high standard.

The ruling is an attack on the growing political power of Black and brown voters and will result in more rigged electoral districts that dilute our voices, said Laura Martin, executive director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada.

“The Voting Rights Act was fought and bled for over decades so that future generations of people of color can have a say in who is representing them,” she said.

Horsford added, “People fought, bled and died for these protections. ... They organized in church basements and community halls. They demanded that the promise written in the Constitution finally be kept. Today, the Supreme Court has seemingly erased those sacrifices with a single decision. This is a moral failure this country cannot accept.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.