The U.S. Supreme Court last month breathed new life into a federal lawsuit challenging the legality of Louisiana’s current congressional district map.
The lawsuit, Ardoin v. Robinson, was put on hold a year ago by the high court pending the outcome of a similar congressional redistricting case in Mississippi, Allen v. Milligan. The Supreme Court resolved the latter case on June 8 in a decision that requires Mississippi to redraw its congressional districts in a way that does not dilute the voting rights of Black residents.
Late last month, the high court ended the stay placed on the Louisiana case, in which plaintiffs argued that the current map, which contains only a single majority-minority district, discriminates against Black voters.
"The stay heretofore entered by the court on June 28, 2022, is vacated,” the court said. “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."
Jared Evans, senior policy counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, which is part of a legal team representing the plaintiffs, said the high court’s decision to uphold Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act is welcome news for Black voters in Louisiana.
“Black people make up one-third of Louisiana’s total population, and this case presents an opportunity to create two out of six congressional districts where Black voters can have their voices heard,” Evans told the Louisiana Record in an email.
The lawsuit will play out in the federal court system over the next several months, he said, and plaintiffs’ attorneys will need to negotiate multiple legal hurdles.
“But it is our expectation that we will have a map in place for the 2024 elections that provides Black voters two opportunities to elect their candidate of choice to Congress,” Evans said.
Gov. John Bel Edwards, whose veto of the congressional map was overridden last year, also welcomed the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“Louisiana can and should have a congressional map that represents our voting population, which is one-third Black,” Edwards said in a prepared statement. “As I have consistently stated, this is about simple math, basic fairness and the rule of law. I am confident we will have a fair map in the near future.”
A request for comment to Louisiana Republican Rep. Steve Scalise’s office went unanswered.
The original lawsuit challenging the congressional map contended that historically, the white majority of Louisiana voters has routinely defeated Black voters’ preferred candidates. Racially polarized voting trends have consistently been a feature in the state, the complaint states.