The U.S. Supreme Court handed Louisiana Democrats a victory after it ordered the state Legislature's Republican majority to redraw a congressional map to include a second Black-majority district.
On Monday, the Court dismissed a GOP-led appeal from the state to allow a new congressional map that civil rights groups argued would weaken the voting rights of Louisiana's Black residents. The plaintiffs argued that Black residents in the state would be able to elect their candidate of choice in only one of six congressional districts, despite making up a third of Louisiana's population.
Instead of hearing the case themselves, justices lifted the hold from a lower court order and paved the way for a second minority district to be drawn in the map. There were no noted dissents from individual justices.
Monday's announcement comes just weeks after the Supreme Court issued a ruling concerning an Alabama congressional map. The justices ordered the state to redraw the map to allow for another Black-majority district in Alabama, where Black residents account for 27 percent of the population.
Last year, Louisiana officials were sued after the Legislature's passage of the congressional map over Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards' veto. Responding to the decision in Alabama, Edwards called the ruling "a win for those who believe in simple math and basic fairness" and expressed hope that a similar outcome would follow in his state.
On Monday, Louisiana Democrats celebrated the Supreme Court order, tweeting, "1/3 of 6 is still 2! Louisiana voters deserve fair maps that guarantee equal representation—and it looks like we're going to get them!"
GOP state Senator Sharon Hewitt, who helped draw the map at the center of the Louisiana lawsuit and is running for governor, previously said that she believed Louisiana's map was "distinct" from the one in the Alabama case and that the redistricting plans in the Bayou State would be upheld, unlike the order in Alabama.
In a statement responding to the Supreme Court's decision, a Hewitt spokesperson told Newsweek that while the senator believed the congressional map complied with the law, she respected the ruling.
"We look forward to having our day in court and ultimately moving beyond litigation so we can return our focus to helping the people of Louisiana," said Hewitt's communications director, Brett Dabdoub.
The decision also comes as the American public awaits Supreme Court rulings in a series of major cases during this term. Among those is a decision in another redistricting case that involves a congressional map drawn in North Carolina.
North Carolina GOP legislators are appealing a ruling from the state Supreme Court that blocked the new congressional map, which that court said violated the state's constitution. However, lawmakers argue that state courts and the state constitution do not have authority in matters related to federal elections.
Should the Supreme Court's justices agree with North Carolina's legislators, state lawmakers across the nation would have more power over federal elections, including the next presidential election, in 2024.
Update 6/36/23, 1:02 p.m. ET: This story was updated with a comment from Louisiana state Senator Sharon Hewitt's communications director, Brett Dabdoub.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Katherine Fung is a Newsweek reporter based in New York City. Her focus is reporting on U.S. and world politics. ... Read more
