All In with Chris Hayes Hayes RIPS Supreme Court ruling: Back towards 'policies of Jim Crow'
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Apr 30, 2026 
Sherilyn Ifill, voting rights lawyer who led major civil rights litigation, and Ro Khanna, California congressman focused on foreign and tech policy. They tackle the Supreme Court decision weakening voting protections and its threat to Black political power. They discuss rapid state redistricting, strategies to entrench power, and the need to fight at the state level.
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Court Decision Threatens Black Political Power
- The Supreme Court's ruling effectively neutralizes Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and enables states to redraw districts that dilute Black representation.
- Sherrilyn Ifill warns this decision mirrors the 2013 gutting of Section 5 and pulls the country back toward Jim Crow–era disenfranchisement.
1982 Effects Test Undermined
- The Court didn't just address one Louisiana map; it dismantled the 1982 effects test that allowed suits against racially discriminatory maps.
- Ifill notes John Roberts opposed the 1982 amendments decades ago and the Court finally achieved that aim now.
VRA Reversed A Historic Decline In Representation
- The Voting Rights Act restored political representation after Reconstruction and Jim Crow; today's ruling risks reversing that progress.
- Hayes and Ifill compare post‑VRA gains in Black elected officials and registration to the losses that followed earlier Court rulings.