The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) today filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Louisiana v. Callais on behalf of eight Louisiana state legislators, urging the Justices to strike down Louisiana’s congressional map under the Fifteenth Amendment.
The brief lays out the record in plain terms: “The legislative supporters admitted it, the challenged Congressional map was drawn ‘on account of race.’” The district court agreed, making a factual finding that “race motivated the draw.”
“One hundred and fifty-five years after the enactment of the Fifteenth Amendment, this Court can complete the ‘unfinished work’ of the Fifteenth Amendment and end the allocation of power based on skin color,” the brief explains. Unlike the balancing tests required by the Fourteenth Amendment, “the simplicity and comprehensiveness of the Fifteenth Amendment provides the Court with a simpler path to decide this case.”
PILF notes that “if a legislative map was enacted with a racial purpose, it violates the Fifteenth Amendment. The racial purpose of the map was common knowledge in Baton Rouge.” Lawmakers themselves openly declared that “race was the purpose, race was the aim, and power was to be allocated to a favored race.”
PILF President J. Christian Adams said the Court must take those admissions seriously. “Louisiana legislators said on the record that race was the driving force behind this map. The Court should seize this opportunity to restore the Constitution’s promise and put an end to race-based gerrymandering once and for all.”
Read the full amicus brief here
For more information or to schedule an interview with J. Christian Adams, please contact Douglas Blair at dblair@publicinterestlegal.org or call 503-956-9899