My letter to Chief Justice John Roberts. His address is enclosed. You should write him too! [View all]

Chief Justice John Roberts
Supreme Court of the United States
1 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20543

Dear Chief Justice Roberts,

I am writing in response to the Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais, which I believe will stand as a defining—and deeply troubling—moment in your tenure.

By narrowing the practical reach of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the Court has made it significantly harder to challenge maps that dilute minority voting power. Requiring proof of intent rather than confronting discriminatory effects does not neutralize injustice—it insulates it. As this Court has demonstrated, history has repeatedly shown that discrimination rarely announces itself openly, and legal standards that depend on proving intent risk rendering civil rights protections hollow.

The purpose of the Voting Rights Act was not to create a race-neutral abstraction, but to remedy specific, well-documented patterns of disenfranchisement. Treating all groups as equally vulnerable to vote dilution disregards the very history the law was designed to confront.

The Court has long claimed to be guided by precedent, restraint, and fidelity to the Constitution. This decision calls those commitments into question. When legal reasoning produces outcomes that predictably and intentionally weaken the political voice of historically marginalized communities, it is reasonable to ask whether the Court is fulfilling its role as a guardian of equal protection.

You are well aware that the legitimacy of the Court rests not only on its authority, but on public confidence that its decisions are grounded in principle rather than outcome-driven reasoning. Decisions like this erode that confidence.

This decision places the Court in the role of validating systemic inequality in American elections. History will remember that.