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Supreme Court to Review Louisiana’s Congressional Redistricting Case

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court announced on Monday its intention to hear a significant redistricting case concerning Louisiana’s congressional map, which is notable for its establishment of two predominantly Black districts.

The court is scheduled to hear arguments on this matter in early 2024, while the 2024 elections will continue under the current map, a situation that may enhance Democratic prospects in reclaiming a majority in the closely contested House of Representatives.

A lower court had previously ruled against the congressional map; however, the justices permitted its use for the 2024 elections following an emergency appeal from both the state and civil rights organizations.

The primary concern for the justices lies in whether Louisiana disproportionately considered race while creating the second majority Black district.

This order marks a continuation of the federal court disputes surrounding Louisiana’s congressional districts, which have persisted for over two years. The state experienced two congressional map rejections by lower courts, prompting the Supreme Court to intervene on two occasions.

In response to the demographic shifts indicated by the 2020 Census, Louisiana’s Republican-dominated legislature designed a new congressional map in 2022. Nevertheless, this redistricting effort mainly upheld the existing political landscape, retaining five Republican-leaning majority white districts alongside one Democratic-leaning majority Black district in a state where African Americans represent roughly one-third of the population.

Civil rights advocates contended that the state’s new map failed to accurately reflect the African American populace and filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Baton Rouge. The case culminated in a ruling from U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick, who indicated that the districts likely discriminated against Black voters.

The Supreme Court stalled Judge Dick’s ruling while considering a related case from Alabama, allowing both states to proceed with the contested map during the 2022 elections, despite findings of potential discrimination by lower court judges.

Eventually, the Supreme Court upheld the Alabama ruling, resulting in a modified map that enabled the formation of a second district likely to elect a Black representative. The Louisiana case was subsequently returned to federal court, anticipating that new maps would be established in time for the 2024 elections.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has given Louisiana lawmakers a deadline early next year to prepare a revised map or risk having a court-imposed version implemented.

Governor Jeff Landry, previously a defender of the state’s congressional map as attorney general, has shifted his stance and is now advocating for a new map that includes an additional majority Black district during a special session in January. He has endorsed a proposal that would create a majority Black district stretching across various regions, including Shreveport, Alexandria, Lafayette, and Baton Rouge.

In a separate legal challenge, a group of individuals identifying as non-African Americans has launched a lawsuit in western Louisiana, asserting that the proposed map was unconstitutional due to its excessive reliance on racial considerations. A panel of federal judges ruled in favor of the plaintiffs with a split decision, prohibiting the implementation of the new map.

The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, decided to stay the lower court’s ruling, allowing the new map to be utilized.

The dissenting votes from the three liberal justices—typically advocates for Black voting rights—were noteworthy, as they expressed their concern over the timing for drawing a new map. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson stated that there was sufficient time prior to the November elections for a new map to be established, asserting that “there is little risk of voter confusion from a new map being imposed this far out from the November election.”

In support of the current map, Landry and his supporters emphasized that the primary consideration was political strategy rather than racial demographics. The existing congressional map was designed to create politically secure districts for House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, both Republicans. Some lawmakers also noted that the only Republican whose district was significantly altered in the new map, Rep. Garret Graves, opted not to run for reelection under the updated configuration after backing a competitor of Landry in the previous gubernatorial election.

Among the candidates for the newly defined district is Democratic state Senator Cleo Fields, a former congressman and African American.

Source
abcnews.go.com