April 29, 2026

WASHINGTON, D.C.— In response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case of Louisiana v. Callais, NETWORK Executive Director Laurie Carafone issued the following statement: 

“Today’s Supreme Court decision is a sweeping and unconscionable setback for the critical voting rights and protections for which civil rights leaders fought, bled, and died. These voting rights have been crucial for our nation to move toward the promise of a multiracial democracy in America.  With this decision, we are witnessing the evisceration of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, undermining U.S. citizens’ rights to meaningful and equitable representation in Congress and in legislatures, and the diversity of our elected bodies that enriches our democracy. 

The decision threatens to further divide our nation and entrench power in the hands of the few. 

Catholic Social Justice affirms the right and responsibility of all people to participate fully in society. God made each of us equal in dignity, and the dignity of each human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. We deny that God-given dignity when Black, Brown, Indigenous, immigrant, disabled, low-income, young, elderly, and historically excluded communities are insidiously disenfranchised from decisions that impact fair representation, safety, resources, and wellbeing that belong to every one of God’s children. 

As people rooted in the Gospel and Catholic Social Justice, we decry racial injustice and political exclusion in all its forms. NETWORK is committed – as a matter of faithful citizenship – to do our part to ensure all communities have an equal opportunity to exercise their sacred right to vote this November, and to organize with urgency so that all our communities make their voices heard despite this decision, and to manifest at the ballot box that the future of our multiracial democracy is not dead, but very much alive.” 

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