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Editor’s Note: Plaintiff Rolfe McCollister is an opinion columnist for Business Report.
A panel of three federal judges on Tuesday rejected Louisiana’s proposed congressional map that would have created the state’s second majority-Black district, casting a great deal of uncertainty over what this fall’s elections might look like.
The map was drawn in a January redistricting special session after a different federal judge rejected a map drawn in 2022 that maintained only one majority-Black district and five majority-white districts in a state that is about one-third Black.
A group of 12 plaintiffs sued Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry in response to the newest map, alleging that it violates civil rights protected by the 14th and 15th amendments. According to the plaintiffs, lawmakers aimed to segregate voters based “entirely on their races.” Attorney General Liz Murrell later filed to intervene as a defendant representing the state of Louisiana.
In Tuesday’s 2-1 ruling, which came after nearly three weeks of deliberations, U.S. District Judges David Joseph and Robert Summerhays agreed with the plaintiffs that the map violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment as “race was the predominate factor” in its creation. U.S. District Judge Carl Stewart dissented, arguing that “various political concerns” were weighed in drawing the new map with “no factor predominating over the other.”
With Louisiana’s fall congressional elections right around the corner, what district boundaries will look like come voting time is at this point up in the air.
So, what happens now?
Murrill writes on X (formerly Twitter) that Louisiana “will of course be seeking Supreme Court review,” and according to The Associated Press, the map’s backers are likely to seek an emergency order from the U.S. Supreme Court to keep the map in place while appeals are pursued.
Democratic and Republican representatives will meet in federal court on Monday to work out next steps. Louisiana election officials say they need to know the district boundaries by May 15, as the sign-up period for fall elections is in mid-July. One possibility is a court-imposed map, Louisiana Illuminator reports.
The ruling has likely provided some relief to U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, whose 6th Congressional District would have been dismantled to create the second majority-Black district. Graves was unable to be reached for comment before this morning’s publication deadline.
U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, the only Black member of Louisiana’s congressional delegation, writes on X that the ruling is “just plain WRONG.”
“MATH is MATH!” Carter writes. “The U.S. Supreme Court must correct this immediately!”
