Supreme Court Rules Against Allowing Hearing On New Louisiana Electoral Map

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.


More than a year after she ruled that a Republican-drawn map unlawfully diluted the clout of black voters, the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to clear the way for a judge to choose a new electoral map for Louisiana that includes a second majority-black congressional district.

A federal appeals court had blocked U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick from moving forward with a replacement map of Louisiana’s six U.S. House of Representatives districts, but the Supreme Court denied a request by opponents of the map to lift that order.

Ketanji Brown Jackson, a liberal justice appointed by President Joe Biden, wrote a brief concurrence in which she said the court’s denial was correct but that it was only a temporary decision that could be overturned in the future.

In June 2022, a judge ordered that Louisiana’s map be redrawn to include a second black-majority district, as the state only had one such district out of six, despite the state’s 33% black population, MSN reported.

A hearing on proposed changes to the district court’s map had been set after months of litigation. However, the hearing was postponed after an order from a federal appeals court so that the state could submit new maps.

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On Thursday, despite a request from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Supreme Court did not reverse its earlier order.

The case is one of several involving race and congressional representation that have come before the justices in recent months. These cases have the potential to affect which party controls the House of Representatives in the upcoming election.

The court previously ordered Alabama to redraw its congressional map, which was introduced this month, to account for the state’s 27% black voting population.

The Supreme Court earlier this month debated whether or not South Carolina committed illegal racial gerrymandering.

There are still two ways to take part in the Louisiana competition. While the district court is trying to fix a Voting Rights Act violation, an appeals court on the federal level is debating whether or not to halt the district court’s efforts.

The case’s presiding district judge scheduled a hearing for early October to choose a new congressional map for the state in August. Extensive discovery and a preliminary injunction hearing lasting five days led up to this. Challengers, including the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, submitted their remedial maps after the state declined to do so. The court was expected to choose a new map at the hearing.

Conservatives, however, petitioned a federal appeals court for more time. The appeals court judges agreed to postpone the hearing because they felt the state needed more time to submit proposed map changes.

The civil rights organization’s attorneys petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the decision of the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals.

Stuart Naifeh of the NAACP-LDF told the justices in court papers that the main reason the panel issued the writ was so that the Louisiana Legislature could make a new map in line with the district court’s order. However, the Legislature has had many chances to make a new map but has not done so.

The U.S. Supreme Court has made important decisions about many issues facing the United States.

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Not long ago, the nation’s highest court ruled against states that passed strict gun laws. The court also threw out President Joe Biden’s plan to forgive student loans because it violated the Constitution.

The court has a strong conservative majority because of former President Donald Trump, and that might play a huge role in the outcome of closely watched cases out of Texas and Florida.

The conservative legislatures in both states passed laws that strike at a major issue affecting all Americans. And, if Justice Clarence Thomas has his way, this case could change social media forever.

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