On Wednesday, the Supreme Court denied a last-ditch effort to stop Louisiana from immediately complying with the High Court’s ruling requiring redistricting to erase the state's race-based map, setting the stage for the redistricting effort to begin on Friday.
“A Louisiana legislative committee that oversees redistricting will meet Friday to hear public comments on a new congressional district map after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week to overturn the existing version,” Louisiana Illuminator reported Monday, citing State Senator Caleb Kleinpeter (R-Port Allen):
“After public testimony Friday, Kleinpeter said his committee will meet again early next week to vote on a map.”
On April 29, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Louisiana’s 2024 redistricting, which created an additional majority-Black district, is unconstitutional because its map was drawn based on race without meeting the extremely limited and strictly-defined legal justifications for race-based redistricting.
Typically, the Clerk of the Court will not direct a copy of the Supreme Court’s opinion and certified copy of the judgment to the District Court for at least 32 days after entry of judgment - unless the High Court shortens the time for issuance.
On Monday, the Supreme Court did just that, granting an “Application For Issuance Of A Copy Of The Opinion And Certified Copy Of The Judgment Forthwith,” concluding that “Those 32 days could matter” and time is of the essence.
"The best way to end race-based discrimination is to stop making decisions based on race," Republican Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry said Thursday:
"Here in Louisiana, we’re proud to lead the nation on this charge. Allowing elections to proceed under an unconstitutional map would undermine the integrity of our system and violate the rights of our voters.”
The new redistricting is expected to restore Louisiana’s pre-2024 map by removing the one minority-Black district created based on race.
On Tuesday, the Black voters who had defended the 2024 map asked the Supreme Court to reverse Monday’s order and reinstate the 32-day waiting period.
By denying the request on Wednesday, the Supreme Court appears to have put an end to the dispute, SCOTUSblog reports:
“In a brief, unsigned order on Wednesday morning, the Supreme Court turned down the request by the Black voters who had defended the 2024 map that the justices struck down in Louisiana v. Callais to roll back the court's order on Monday that immediately finalized its judgment – presumably ending the dispute at the Supreme Court, at least for the foreseeable future. As is often the case for orders on its emergency docket, the justices did not provide any explanation for their decision.”
