Republicans’ use of caging has been a contentious issue ever since Debevoise’s ruling 26 years ago. In 1986, the judge found that Louisiana Republicans had violated the consent decree. In 1990, another consent decree was issued after the Republican Party of North Carolina and the re-election campaign of Republican Sen. Jesse Helms sent 125,000 postcards to mostly black voters to compile a list of voters to challenge.

Part of RICO means showing that the actions are longstanding and deliberate. Does 26 years worth of longstanding and deliberate work?