Supreme Court clears way for Louisiana to redo congressional map

The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for Louisiana to draw a second majority-Black congressional district.

The justices previously paused a lower ruling that mandated the state redraw its map, but the court then sat on the dispute as it considered a similar case in Alabama.

In a major, surprise ruling earlier this month, the court struck down Alabama’s map by ruling it likely violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting the power of Black voters.

Following that decision, the court’s order on Monday lifts the pause in Louisiana’s case and sends it back to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The move is likely to require the state to add a second majority-Black district.

“This will allow the matter to proceed before the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for review in the ordinary course and in advance of the 2024 congressional elections in Louisiana,” the order reads.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) vetoed the congressional map approved by the state’s GOP-controlled Legislature, which contained one majority-Black district out of six. But lawmakers proceeded to override that veto.

Two groups of plaintiffs then challenged the map in court under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, alleging it diluted the power of Black voters. 

“By dismissing this case as improvidently granted, the Supreme Court once again affirmed the power of the Voting Rights Act to prevent racially discriminatory redistricting, this time in Louisiana,” said Abha Khanna, a partner at Elias Law Group, which is representing one of the plaintiff groups, in a statement. 

“Black voters in Louisiana have suffered one election under a congressional map that unlawfully dilutes their political influence,” Khanna continued. “Thankfully, Louisiana is now on track to add an additional minority opportunity district in time for 2024, ensuring that Black Louisianians are finally afforded fair representation in the state’s congressional delegation.”

After they sued, a lower court ordered the state to redraw its map with a second majority-Black district. Louisiana’s Republican secretary of state and attorney general then urged the Supreme Court to step in and grant an emergency pause of that ruling.

The court agreed to do so over the public dissents of liberal justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, effectively allowing the map to go into effect for the 2022 midterms.

But the court said it would keep the case on its docket and hold it until the justices resolved the Alabama dispute, which similarly involved a challenge to the state’s GOP-drawn congressional map for including only one majority-Black district.

Court watchers anticipated that the right-leaning court would reject the Alabama challenge and, in doing so, narrow the Voting Rights Act.

But when the decision was handed down earlier this month, two of the court’s conservatives — Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh — joined the three liberals to strike down Alabama’s map as a likely violation of the Voting Rights Act in a 5-4 decision.

Court watchers largely expected the justices would send the Louisiana case back to a lower court because of the ruling, and it may not be the only map affected.

Alabama’s case has given a boost to Democratic hopes of recapturing the House because the decision could impact voting map fights in states such as Georgia.

Updated at 11:13 a.m.