Supreme Court takes up GOP-led challenge to Voting Rights Act that could affect control of Congress
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court is taking up a major Republican-led challenge to the Voting Rights Act, the centerpiece legislation of the Civil Rights Movement. The challenge could gut a key provision of the law that prohibits racial discrimination in redistricting. The justices Wednesday are hearing arguments for the second time in a case over Louisiana's congressional map, which has two majority Black districts. A ruling for Louisiana could open the door for legislatures to redraw congressional maps across the South, potentially boosting Republican electoral prospects in the closely divided House of Representatives by eliminating majority Black and Latino seats that tend to favor Democrats. The court's conservative majority has been skeptical of considerations of race.