The Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily reinstated Louisiana's congressional map, which includes a second-majority black district, suspending the map over concerns it was racially gerrymandered. The decision of the lower court was suspended.
The move could increase Democrats' chances of taking control of Louisiana's No. 2 House seat.
The newly drawn maps had been approved by the Republican-controlled Louisiana Legislature in January after being ordered to be redrawn.
The judgment, which has not been signed, will remain in effect pending an appeal or Supreme Court decision, he said. The court's three liberal justices said in a letter that they would not have lifted the proposed block on the map, and Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan noted that they would have denied the motion for a stay.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson ruled that the dispute required more than two years of litigation, challenges by separate groups of voters, first under the Voting Rights Act, then under the Constitution, and scrutiny by the governor. Recognizing the complex history of the government, he wrote a public dissent. , legislators, voters, and judges.
This lawsuit was particularly troubling. That's because the two groups had raised separate objections to the way Louisiana divided its voting districts, based on different underlying principles.
Black voter groups cited the Voting Rights Act and said they should move forward with drawing new maps. In a separate challenge, another group of plaintiffs pointed to the Equal Protection Clause, saying it amounts to racial gerrymandering and should be blocked.
In Louisiana's petition, the state's attorney general, Elizabeth B. Murrill, urged the justices to take swift action.
Louisiana's Secretary of State has set a May 15 deadline to prepare for the 2024 election, and a lower court ruling leaves her with “no congressional map” to use for the election, she wrote.
He added: “Louisiana's improbable situation in this redistricting cycle would be comical if it weren't so serious.”
