WASHINGTON (AP) – Louisiana on Wednesday abandoned the political map defense that elected two black members of Congress and instead supreme court Reject racial considerations in rezoning in cases that could lead to major changes Voting Rights Act.
Louisiana is pushing to conservatively controlled courts skeptical of racial use to advance its position that it and other Republican-led states in the South can draw out new maps that eliminate virtually all black districts that are democratic hubs, voting rights experts said.
“If Louisiana’s argument comes first in the Supreme Court, it almost certainly leads to whiter, less representative councils, and there will be significantly less representative representation of the nation’s minority in councils, city councils and other district-based agencies.”
The state’s High Court filings responded to a judge’s appeal for new briefings and debates in the Louisiana case that they first heard earlier this year. The arguments will be made on October 15th.
“Racism-based constituencies are fundamentally against our constitution,” wrote Louisiana Attorney General Elizabeth Maril.
The voting rights group defending the second black majority district has urged the courts to reject the state’s constitutional agenda.
The second round of discussion is a rare occurrence in the Supreme Court, and sometimes booking major changes by the High Court. The 2010 decision to unify citizens led to a dramatic increase in independent spending in US elections.
When the court first heard of the Louisiana case in March, some of the court’s conservative justice suggested that they could throw away the map and make it difficult for them to vote to make it difficult.
The incident involves the interaction of race and politics in drawing political boundaries.
Just two years ago, the court confirmed a ruling by 5-4 votes that found it could violate the Voting Rights Act in a similar case surrounding Alabama’s legislative map. Secretary John Roberts and Judge Brett Kavanaugh joined three more liberal colleagues in the results.
That decision led to new districts in both states that sent two more Black Democrats to Congress.
However, the court asked the parties to answer potentially large questions. “Whether the intentional creation of the state’s second majority of Congressional districts violates the 14th or 15th amendment to the US Constitution.”
These amendments adopted in the aftermath of the civil war were aimed at bringing political equality to Black Americans and empowering Congress to take all the necessary steps. Almost a century later, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, called the Crown Jewel of the Civil Rights Era and ended a sustained effort to prevent black people from voting in states before Confederate forces.
The High Court has blocked the law in the last few decades, but has maintained provisions that allow for challenges to political districts where minority voters can be shown to deprive them of the opportunity to elect their chosen representatives.
In the March debate, Louisiana defended the Congressional map in an effort to comply with and preserve court rulings held by strong Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson.
The court battle over the Louisiana Legislature district has been going on for three years. Two maps were blocked by the lower courts, and the Supreme Court intervened twice. Most recently, the court ordered the use of new maps in the 2024 election.
The state’s Republican-controlled Congress mapped a new 2022 Congress to explain the population changes reflected in the 2020 census. However, the change effectively maintained the status quo for five majority white districts that are leaning towards Republicans and one democratically leaning majority black districts.
Civil rights advocates ruled in a lower court that the district likely discriminated against black voters.
The state eventually drew a new map. But white Louisiana voters argued in another lawsuit that race was the main driver of it. Three courts agreed to this, leading to the current High Court case.