SCOTUS Delivers Good News to Black Voters in Louisiana

It's now more likely the state will have to redraw congressional map to have a 2nd mostly Black district
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 26, 2023 3:06 PM CDT
SCOTUS Move Is Good News for Black Voters in Louisiana
The US Supreme Court, Friday, June 23, 2023, in Washington.   (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

The Supreme Court on Monday paved the way for Louisiana to have to redraw its congressional map to add a second mostly Black district. In lifting a hold they had placed on a lower court's order, the justices revived revived Black Louisianans' optimism of creating a second such district in the Deep South state, per the AP. For more than a year, there has been a legal battle over the GOP-drawn political boundaries, with opponents arguing that the map is unfair and discriminates against Black voters. The map, which was used in Louisiana's November congressional election, has white majorities in five of six districts—despite Black people accounting for one-third of the state's population.

The unsigned order follows the court's rejection earlier in June of a congressional redistricting map in Alabama and unfreezes the Louisiana case, which had been on hold pending the decision in Alabama. In both states, Black voters are a majority in just one congressional district. Lower courts had ruled that the maps raised concerns that Black voting power had been diluted, in violation of the landmark federal Voting Rights Act. The Louisiana case had been appealed to the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, when the high court put the case on hold. The justices said that appeal now could go forward in advance of next year's congressional elections. A mostly Black district could deliver another congressional seat to Democrats. Also Monday:

  • The court left in place an appellate ruling barring a North Carolina public charter school from requiring girls to wear skirts to school. Details here.
  • The court left in place a decision that allows more than 230 men to sue Ohio State University over decades-old sexual abuse by a university doctor, the late Richard Strauss. Details here.
  • The court dismissed a case it had planned to hear about limits on lawsuits filed by members of Congress against the federal government, in a dispute that involved the former Trump International Hotel in Washington. Details here.
(More US Supreme Court stories.)

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