Ruling could mean La. will redraw congressional map again

An appeal can go forward that could lead to Louisiana redrawing congressional districts following a U.S. Supreme Court decision announced Monday morning.

The Louisiana case, Ardoin v. Robinson, had been “frozen” by the high court last summer, allowing the midterms to proceed. At issue in decisions by lower courts was whether voting power of Blacks had been weakened.

The case in the Bayou State was held until a decision on a case in Alabama was reached. In that, justices did release a 5-4 opinion earlier this month that favored Black voters.

The appeal of Ardoin v. Robinson can proceed at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, meaning before next year’s congressional elections.

The case was brought by civil rights groups alleging that the maps drawn by the Legislature in the wake of the 2020 census should have allowed for another majority Black congressional district because the new map diluted the Black vote and was in violation of the Voting Rights Act. Blacks account for a third of the state’s population.

Monday’s decision was one of a number of cases the justices rendered decisions on, though there were no opinions released. These were orders of the court, in many cases deciding that the justices would not take up the cases.

U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans and the incumbent in Louisiana’s only Black-majority congressional district, praised the Supreme Court’s action.

“Louisiana’s population rose 2.7% since the 2010 census and has grown more diverse in the past decade with Black residents making up 31% of the state,” Carter said in a statement Monday. I have said it before, and I will say it again – math is math.
We must begin to overcome our tarnished past and move toward fair maps that follow the math and give Black Louisianans the opportunity to elect a Black candidate. Let’s finally get this right.”