On April 29, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Louisiana v. Callais, holding that Louisiana's decision to add a majority-minority district was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. But the opinion's "antiseptic" reasoning and holding, in the words of Justice Kagan, belie a larger reality: Callais is the last of three decisions through which the Roberts Court has, in less than 15 years, effectively eviscerated one of our nation's most consequential laws—the Voting Rights Act of 1965. As Justice Kagan explained in her dissent, that law was "born of the literal blood of Union soldiers and civil rights marchers," and brought the country "closer to fulfilling the ideals of democracy and racial equality." And yet the Supreme Court has now overridden Congress's considered and consistently reiterated view that the law was a necessary corrective to decades of attempts by States to disenfranchise minority populations.

On August 3, 2026, at 12:30PM Eastern, please join the ACS Washington DC, New York, and the Georgia Lawyer Chapters for a timely discussion of this decision by voting rights experts. Come learn about the origins of the law; what Callais and other decisions have done for it; what Callais means; what comes next; and, most importantly, what you can do to respond. Please RSVP by Friday, July 31.

Featuring:
Lauren Groh-Wargo, Chief Executive Officer, Fair Fight Action. Groh-Wargo is one of the country's leading political strategists and voting rights advocates. As Chief Executive Officer of Fair Fight Action, she has helped build one of the nation's most influential organizations focused on protecting the freedom to vote, expanding civic participation, and challenging voter suppression through organizing, litigation, and public education.

Stuart Naifeh, Manager, Redistricting Project, NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF). Using litigation, policy, and public education strategies, Stuart works to ensure that districting lines established in the wake of the 2020 census protect and enhance the voting power of Black communities. Among many other representations, he was a member of the team that litigated Callais. Stuart argued before the Supreme Court in Robinson v. Callais, a racial gerrymandering case seeking to roll back representational gains for Black voters in Louisiana’s congressional map. He also led the team in the predecessor case, Robinson v. Ardoin, a Voting Rights Act challenge to Louisiana’s post-2020 congressional map, which resulted in the election of a second Black congressional representative from Louisiana in 2024. Stuart previously worked on the team that successfully challenged Alabama’s congressional map in Milligan v. Merrill, and he has overseen redistricting cases in states throughout the South.

Professor Spencer Overton, Patricia Roberts Harris Research Professor of Law, George Washington University. He is the author of the book Stealing Democracy: The New Politics of Voter Suppression, the law review article Overcoming Racial Harms to Democracy from Artificial Intelligence, and several other publications on democracy and race. He also directs GW Law's Multiracial Democracy Project, which is currently working on research projects on the implications of artificial intelligence and alternative election systems for truly representative democracy in the United States.

Moderated by Marcia Johnson, Chief Counsel, League of Women Voters. Marcia Johnson is one of the nation’s leading voting-rights attorneys and a fierce defender of equal access to the ballot. As chief of activation & justice at the League of Women Voters, she drives the organization’s advocacy, litigation, organizing, and policy agenda for justice in democracy. With decades of experience advancing civil and voting rights, Marcia leads the League’s integrated legal, advocacy, and organizing strategy to protect and expand participation for all voters. She previously served as co-director of the Voting Rights Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, where, for years, she created and directed the national nonpartisan Election Protection coalition, researched the impact of the Voting Rights Act on American democracy, and participated in major litigation defending the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act.