Louisiana v. Callais · ¶183

So the majority must turn elsewhere, and it next lands on the Constitution. There, it begins in settled territory. The Fifteenth Amendment, all agree, prohibits only purposeful discrimination. See ante, at 113. But that amendment, in addition, grants Congress the power to enforce it by “appropriate legislation.” Even the majority concedes that grant enables Congress to go further than the Amendment would—to prohibit things by legislation that the Amendment itself does not. See ante, at 112–113. The important issue is how far and how much. And here the majority makes an unprecedented claim. It contends that to “ensure” compliance with the Fifteenth Amendment, Section 2 must be construed to impose liability only when the circumstances create a “strong inference” of intentional discrimination. Ante, at 113. And more, the majority makes clear that the circumstances will not do so when the…

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