Supreme Court allows Louisiana to use congressional map with second majority-Black district
The Supreme Court paved the way for Louisiana to use a congressional map in this year's election that includes two majority-Black districts.
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday paved the way for Louisiana to use a congressional map in this year's election that includes two majority-Black districts.
The court granted emergency requests filed by an unlikely alliance of Republican state officials and civil rights groups, who were united in asking the high court to block a lower court ruling that invalidated the most recently drawn map. State officials had said they needed to have the map finalized by Wednesday to meet bureaucratic deadlines and avoid "disarray."
Black voters have historically voted for Democrats, and a map with two majority-Black districts could give them an opportunity to pick up a seat, which could help them regain control of the closely divided House of Representatives.
The court's three liberal justices dissented, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson writing that the state still had time to draw a map that would address the various legal questions that have been raised. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority.
"There is little risk of voter confusion from a new map being imposed this far out from the November election," Jackson wrote.
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