(Photo credit: Wesley Muller/Louisiana Illuminator)
District maps for seats in the Louisiana Legislature violate the federal Voting Rights Act, a panel of judges on the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. Their decision upholds a lower court ruling that found the boundaries discriminated against Black voters.
The panel’s ruling was issued Thursday in the case Nairne v. Landry, in which Black voters sued the state over redistricting plans the legislature adopted in 2022. The new boundaries for Louisiana Senate and House of Representatives districts did not increase the number of majority Black seats. The plaintiffs alleged they were unconstitutional racial gerrymanders.
The three appellate judges – James Dennis, an appointee of President Bill Clinton; Catharina Haynes, an appointee of President George W. Bush; and Irma Ramirez, an appointee of President Joe Biden – upheld a 2024 ruling from U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick of the Middle District of Louisiana.
Dick, who former President Barack Obama named to the federal bench, determined the legislative maps do not give Black voters a fair opportunity to elect their own representatives. Dick’s ruling came after the 2023 elections, when a new class of lawmakers were elected, yielding a Republican supermajority in both chambers.
The state appealed Dick’s decision, arguing in part that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional and should not be applied to Louisiana. The section prohibits actions and policy that restrict a person’s right to vote based on their race, color or membership in a language minority group.
The 5th Circuit judges disagreed with that argument.
Their decision said that when Congress approved the Voting Rights Act, “it did so based on overwhelming evidence that ‘sterner and more elaborate measures were needed to address ‘an insidious and pervasive evil,” referring to laws in some states that sought to disenfranchise Black voters.
The judges shot down the state’s request that it ignore the Supreme Court and disregard the intent of Congress when it outlawed racial discrimination in voting in Section 2.
“This is a historic affirmation of the rights of Black voters in Louisiana,” said Megan Keenan, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Project who is representing the Nairne plaintiffs. “Today’s decision sends a powerful message: The Voting Rights Act is still a vital safeguard against racial discrimination in our democracy.”
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill condemned the ruling.
“We are reviewing our options with a focus on stability in our elections and preserving state and judicial resources while the Supreme Court resolves related issues,” Murrill said in a statement to the Illuminator.
Murrill’s comments refer to the U.S. Supreme Court’s consideration of a separate Louisiana redistricting case over the constitutionality of its U.S. House districts. It’s scheduled for a second round of arguments on Oct. 15.
Justices asked parties to the case to address whether the state’s “intentional creation of a second majority-minority congressional district” violates the 14th or 15th amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Though the 5th Circuit panel agreed that the maps in the Nairne case violate the Voting Rights Act, there is a stay on redrawing them until the Supreme Court rules in Louisiana v. Callais, the congressional redistricting case. A ruling on Callais is not expected until next May or June.
Attorneys for the Nairne plaintiffs have advocated for new maps to be quickly adopted and special elections to be held. But if new maps are eventually adopted, it is most likely they will not be used until the 2027 elections.
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