Louisiana v. Callais · ¶13

Another problem stemmed from the long-unresolved question whether compliance with the Voting Rights Act provides a compelling reason that may justify the intentional use of race in drawing legislative districts. For over 30 years, we have assumed for the sake of argument that the answer is yes. See infra, at 99–101. And we have gone further and assumed that it is enough if a State “ `ha[s] a strong basis in evidence' ” for thinking that the Voting Rights Act requires race-based conduct. Cooper v. Harris, 581 U. S. 285, 292–293 (2017). But allowing race to play any part in government decisionmaking represents a departure from the constitutional rule that applies in almost every other context.

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