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Is the Supreme Court About to End the Voting Rights Act’s Last Protections?

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US President Donald Trump (R) greets US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts as Trump to address to a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on March 4, 2025. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

The Supreme Court appears ready to overturn the last remaining provision of the Voting Rights Act, the landmark civil rights law designed to dismantle Jim Crow-era policies that disenfranchised Black voters.

This week, the court heard oral arguments in Louisiana v. Callais, a case challenging the state’s redistricting map. The case was brought by a group of self-described “non-African-American voters” who argue the creation of Louisiana’s second majority-Black congressional district violates the Constitution.

Marisa Lagos and Scott Shafer are joined in studio by Lisa Graves, a former senior Justice Department official and executive director of the progressive watchdog group True North Research. Graves’ new book, Without Precedent: How Chief Justice Roberts and His Accomplices Rewrote the Constitution and Dismantled Our Rights, connects the roll back of civil rights to the leadership of Chief Justice John Roberts. 

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