This Is the Worst Voting Rights Decision Since Jim Crow

Want more Amicus? Join Slate Plus to unlock weekly bonus episodes with exclusive legal analysis. Plus, you’ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Join at slate.com/youtubeplus?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=link&utm_content=Amicus&utm_campaign=show_description&tpcc=youtube-link-show_description-Amicus On Wednesday, Justice Samuel Alito delivered the latest, probably lethal blow in the Supreme Court’s decades-long campaign against multi-racial democracy in America, with a 6-3 majority opinion gutting what remained of the Voting Rights Act in Louisiana v Callais. In this special extra episode of Amicus, Dahlia Lithwick talks with Janai Nelson, President and Director-Counsel of the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), the nation’s premier civil rights law organization. Nelson argued Louisiana v. Callais before the United States Supreme Court in October of 2025. Together, they examine the history ignored by the right wing majority, and look ahead to the disastrous consequences this ruling unleashes on American democracy, from school boards all the way to the halls of congress. Podcast production by Sara Burningham and Sophie Summergrad // Video production by Micah Phillips