A battle in the Supreme Court appears likely after three federal judges rejected Louisiana’s new congressional district map that gave the state a second majority-black House district.
The three-judge panel ruled 2-1 on Tuesday that the state cannot use the voting district map that was drawn up in January. The judges agreed with the plaintiffs, who claimed that the map constituted racial gerrymandering and thus violated the Constitution.
“The predominate role of race in the State’s decisions is reflected in the statements of legislative decision-makers, the division of cities and parishes along racial lines, the unusual shape of the district, and the evidence that the contours of the district were drawn to absorb sufficient numbers of Black-majority neighborhoods to achieve the goal of a functioning majority-Black district,” U.S. District Judges David Joseph and Robert Summerhays wrote in the majority opinion.
Both judges are appointees of former President Donald Trump. The one dissenting opinion, 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Carl Stewart, a Clinton appointee, disagreed.
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“The totality of the record demonstrates that the Louisiana legislature weighed various political concerns — including protecting of particular incumbents — alongside race, with no factor predominating over the other,” he said.
The decision is likely to be appealed, sending it to the Supreme Court for a final decision. The appeal must be taken up quickly, as Republican Secretary of State Nancy Landry has set May 15 as the deadline for the finalization of the map so that it can be used in this year’s elections.
