US Supreme Court to hear arguments over Louisiana district map – JURIST

The US Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case involving Louisiana’s congressional district map with two Black-majority districts in the six-district state, according to an order issued Monday. Parties still await a date for oral arguments.

The announcement marks the latest development for the state’s controversially drawn map. The court will hear arguments from two cases consolidated into one. Plaintiffs argue the map violates section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VMA), which prohibits denial or abridgment of the right to vote based on race. The plaintiff’s district court complaint read, “[f]rom start to finish the State’s purpose was clear: segregate voters based entirely on their races and create two majority-African American voting districts and four majority non-African American districts, without regard for any traditional redistricting criteria.”

The Louisiana legislature created the current map in early 2024 after the court effectively shot down the previous map in late 2023. In May, the court ordered the map be used for the 2024 election, supplanting a February district court ruling that would have required state officials to redraw it once again six months out from November 5.

The previous Louisiana congressional map was struck down on similar grounds. In that case, a district court ruled that the map violated Section 2 because it created only one Black-majority district, despite Blacks making up around 30 percent of the state’s population. Black activists and civil rights groups challenged the map and ultimately won, claiming it violated the VMA and the Constitution.

The current map uses state geography and demographics in a similar way, but now the map features two Black-majority districts. Following the drawing of the map, a group of white voters filed suit, claiming the map was a racial gerrymander in the other direction.