Federal judges who recently threw out a Congressional map that made Louisiana the second-largest black district on Tuesday said the state Legislature must pass a new map by June 3 or else He said the commission would impose the maps on the states.
The order from the committee, which is made up of two federal district judges and an appellate judge, says it will begin developing a remedial plan while giving lawmakers an opportunity to develop a plan.
State lawmakers are meeting in Baton Rouge for their regular session, which ends June 3.
Black-majority Louisiana’s new congressional district rejected, November election map still unclear
“To be clear, the fact that the court is proceeding with the relief phase of this case does not preclude the Louisiana Legislature from exercising its ‘sovereignty’ by drawing maps that comply with the law.” the judges wrote.
Whatever emerges in court could impact the composition of the next U.S. Congress. Given voting patterns, the new majority-black districts give Democrats a chance to win new House seats. A recently tossed map turned the 6th District, represented by Republican Rep. Garrett Graves, into a majority black district. Democratic state Sen. Cleo Fields, who is Black and a former member of the House, had announced she would run for office.
The Judiciary Committee announced it would redraw the discarded Louisiana congressional map itself if lawmakers fail to do so by June 3. (Fox News)
U.S. District Judges David Joseph and Robert Summerhays, who were appointed to the bench by former President Donald Trump, argued that the latest map is based on the Constitution’s Amendment law because “race was the primary factor” that drove its creation. It said it violated Article 14’s equal protection clause.
Tuesday’s order is the latest development in a see-saw legal battle in two federal court districts and the Court of Appeals.
The state currently has five white Republican members of Congress and one black Democratic representative. All were recently elected based on a map drawn by Congress in 2022.
A federal judge in Baton Rouge ruled that the 2022 map would likely violate federal voting rights law by dividing the state’s large black population (about a third of the population) into five districts. The use of was prohibited. A federal appeals court gave lawmakers a deadline to act earlier this year. Congress responded with maps that created new districts diagonally across the state, linking black residents of Shreveport in the northwest, Alexandria in the center, and Lafayette and Baton Rouge in the south.
A group of voters who identify as non-African American filed a lawsuit against the map, arguing that it was unconstitutional because it was created based on race. The lawsuit was filed in western Louisiana. A three-judge panel heard arguments in the case and issued a 2-1 decision on the map. The same committee issued its ruling Tuesday.
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The Louisiana Secretary of State’s office said maps must be ready by May 15 in preparation for the fall election. But the judges noted testimony that the office could have been ready if the maps were in place by the end of May. The candidate registration period is mid-July.
