The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to review a dispute over Louisiana’s congressional map, which features two majority-Black voting districts. The case examines potential conflicts between the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause, setting the stage for a significant ruling on race and redistricting.
la election map justice review : Background of the Louisiana Redistricting Dispute
The controversy began in early 2022 when voting rights advocates, including Power Coalition for Equity & Justice and the Louisiana State Conference of the NAACP, filed a lawsuit against the state. They argued that the congressional map, drawn based on the 2020 census, violated Section 2 of the VRA by diluting the influence of Black voters. Although Louisiana’s Black population had increased, lawmakers included only one majority-Black district in the map.
A federal judge in the Middle District of Louisiana found the map likely unconstitutional and ordered state lawmakers to create a second majority-Black district. Louisiana initially resisted, but after a Fifth Circuit ruling in November 2023 affirmed the decision, state legislators adopted a revised map with two majority-Black districts out of six. The revised map allowed Republican incumbents, including Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, to retain their seats but put other seats, such as Rep. Garret Graves’, at risk.
Competing Lawsuits and Equal Protection Concerns
Shortly after Louisiana’s governor signed the new map into law, a group of 12 non-Black voters, led by Philip Callais, filed a legal challenge. They argued that race had been made the predominant factor in the redistricting process, violating the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. They pointed out that Louisiana’s revised 6th District bears a close resemblance to a district struck down in 1996 for racial gerrymandering. According to the plaintiffs, the new 6th District connects Black communities from Baton Rouge to Shreveport, disregarding natural community boundaries.
