Topline
The Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily reinstated a Republican-drawn redistricting map for Louisiana’s six House districts pending further review, pausing a preliminary injunction from a lower court judge who said the map likely violated the Voting Rights Act.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – APRIL 19, 2018: The U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C., is the seat … [+]
Key Facts
The Supreme Court granted Republican Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin’s request to reinstate the six House districts, and said it will hold off on hearing the case until the court decides a similar case in Alabama during its next term.
Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan–the high court’s three liberal judges–dissented from the decision.
On June 6, Louisiana District Court Judge Shelly Dick blocked the use of the original map, ruling it likely violated the Voting Rights Act because only one of the six congressional districts was majority Black.
Judge Dick had given Louisiana legislators until June 20 to redraw the map, and the Fifth District Court of Appeals declined to stay Dick’s order while an appeal moved through the court system.
KEY BACKGROUND
The state of Louisiana currently has six House districts, and only one of them is majority Black. State Democrats are arguing that an additional House district should be drawn to more accurately represent the state’s population, which is about 32% Black. The Louisiana legislature passed the map in February and overrode a veto by Gov John Bel Edwards (D) on March 30. Almost every state went through redistricting this year, a once-a-decade process following the Census. Some states’ efforts have been held up in court amid allegations of gerrymandering, a method for manipulating the electoral boundaries to favor one party. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court blocked a lower court’s decision to require Alabama legislators to redraw their congressional map to include two majority Black districts. New York redistricting this year eliminated a Republican district upstate, but originally went through several re-drawings.
CRUCIAL QUOTE
“Today’s ruling from the Supreme Court is more than a little disappointing. The District Court’s well-reasoned 157 page decision clearly demonstrated that the maps passed by the legislature do not comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Black Louisianans make up one third of our population, and one third of our districts should be majority Black,” Gov. Bel Edwards tweeted.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Arguments for the Alabama case are scheduled for Oct. 4.
FURTHER READING
U.S. Supreme Court allows Louisiana electoral map faulted for racial bias (Reuters)
Supreme Court Revives Republican-Drawn Voting Map in Louisiana (New York Times)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/darreonnadavis/2022/06/28/supreme-court-restores-gop-drawn-louisiana-redistricting-map-originally-blocked-for-racial-bias/