PHOENIX — Today, the Supreme Court reaffirmed a truth that should never have been controversial: the Constitution sees citizens, not categories.

In a 6-3 decision, the Court held that Louisiana’s congressional map crossed a constitutional line by sorting voters principally by race. As Justice Alito explained for the majority, allowing race to play a defining role in government decision-making is a departure from the constitutional rule that governs nearly every other context. The promise of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments is equal protection for every American, not a permanent system of racial classification administered by lawmakers and courts.

The Court’s ruling does not weaken the Voting Rights Act (VRA). It honors it. Section 2 was passed to dismantle the machinery of racial discrimination in voting, not to require it in a different form decades later. Callais restores the VRA to its original, dignifying purpose: ensuring that every citizen, of every background, has equal access to the ballot and equal standing before the law.

For Arizona, the principle at stake is foundational. Our state’s strength has never come from dividing neighbors into demographic blocs and assuming they must think, vote, and live alike. It comes from the conviction that every person is made in the image of God and that we are all equal under the law.

This decision is valuable for the legal and moral clarity that it offers. Equal treatment under law is not a partisan position. It is the bedrock of a free and flourishing republic, and it is worth defending in every state, including Arizona.