As I explained back in August, the Supreme Court reached and and in the most opaque way on a late Friday afternoon in mid-summer, the Court turned a ho-hum racial gerrymandering case where the court had to determine whether race or party predominated (something the Court has had to deal with numerous times before) into a case where the constitutionality of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is now squarely in the conservative Justices’ cross-hairs.

Oral argument in Callais is ongoing now. Janai Nelson, head of the LDF, argued in favor of Section 2’s continued constitutionality. She did an excellent job, but it may not be enough. The conservative Justices have asked questions that indicate that the very race consciousness that Section 2 requires in order to remedy race discrimination is itself unconstitutional. The idea that the Court may use the Reconstruction Amendments to the Constitution to bar a remedy that helps minority voters is both ahistorical and repugnant.

But here we are. Because the Court won’t want to take the political hit of striking down Section 2, my expectation is that the case will get the Alito Treatment: it will use statutory interpretation to sap Section 2 of its power without formally overturning it. (Never mind that Gingles should be subject to super strong stare decisis treatment as a court interpretation of a statute.) The Supreme Court once again thwarts congressional intent and democratic processes. It will be an earthquake in the American political system, and I hope it leads to a new civil rights movement.