We The People

Is Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act Unconstitutional?

August 14, 2025

In this episode, Bradley Smith of Capital University Law School and Nicholas Stephanopoulos of Harvard Law School join to discuss the history and future of racial gerrymandering, including how the Court’s upcoming decision in Louisiana v. Callais could affect the Voting Rights Act. 

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Today’s episode was produced by Bill Pollock and Griffin Richie. It was engineered by Bill Pollock. Research was provided by Gyuha Lee, Griffin Richie, Trey Sullivan, and Tristan Worsham.

 

Participants

Bradley Smith is the Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault Professor of Law at Capital University Law School. He served on the Federal Election Commission from 2000 through 2005, including as the commission’s chairman during the presidential election year of 2004.

Nicholas Stephanopoulos is the Kirkland & Ellis Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. A scholar at the forefront of election law and democratic theory, Nick is the author of Aligning Election Law and has been involved in several cases about partisan gerrymandering.

Jeffrey Rosen is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public about the U.S. Constitution. Rosen is also professor of law at The George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor ofThe Atlantic.

 

Additional Resources

 

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