Spike Lee calls Supreme Court’s Louisiana redistricting ruling an ‘attack on voters’

Director Spike Lee has criticized the Supreme Court’s decision striking down Louisiana’s congressional map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, calling the ruling an attack on voting rights.

In an interview with CNN’s Laura Coates, Mr. Lee described the ruling as an attack on voters while also expressing confidence that the country could overcome the moment.

“It’s not the first this country’s been through stuff. And it’s found a better way to live and we gotta work at it,” he said.

The “Malcolm X” and “BlacKkKlansman” director urged Black Americans to remain engaged at the ballot box. “Let’s realize, black folks, we got a lot of our stuff through voting,” he said. “So, you know what the game plan is when you see this attack on voters. So, we know what they’re doing.”

The Supreme Court issued its ruling in Louisiana v. Callais on Wednesday, voting 6-3 to invalidate a map adopted by the Louisiana Legislature in 2024 that had created two majority-Black congressional districts. The court held that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act did not require Louisiana to create a second majority-minority district, and that the state therefore lacked a compelling interest to justify the race-based drawing of the district.

Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, said Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 “was designed to enforce the Constitution — not collide with it” and that lower courts had sometimes applied the court’s precedents in a way that forced states to engage in race-based discrimination that the Constitution forbids.

In her dissent, joined by the court’s other two liberal-leaning justices, Justice Elena Kagan wrote that the decision “will set back the foundational right Congress granted of racial equality in electoral opportunity.”

The ruling threw Louisiana’s primary elections into uncertainty. Overseas and absentee ballots had already been sent, and some returned, with early voting imminent, when Gov. Jeff Landry suspended U.S. House primaries scheduled for May 16 to allow the legislature to draw a new map.

The decision has unfolded against the backdrop of a broader national redistricting effort, with Republican- and Democratic-controlled states alike moving to redraw congressional maps ahead of the midterm elections as both parties eye control of the House.

The same day as the ruling, the Florida Legislature approved a new congressional map projected to yield a four-seat gain for Republicans, shifting the state’s delegation from 20 Republicans and eight Democrats to 24 Republicans and four Democrats.

Redistricting experts broadly expect Republican-controlled legislatures in the South to move to eliminate at least some Democratic-represented districts previously protected under the Voting Rights Act. Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia warned that the ruling could significantly shrink the Congressional Black Caucus.