On April 25, 2024, the district court dismissed Plaintiffs' claims as moot in light of the Legislature's passage of SB8.  Plaintiffs have asked the court to reconsider that decision due to the Western District of Louisiana's decision enjoining the use of SB8.

BACKGROUND

After the last redistricting cycle, the Louisiana Legislature drew a map with only one congressional district in which Black voters had the opportunity to elect their preferred candidate. Under that map, Black voters in Louisiana controlled only one out of six of the state’s congressional districts, even though Black voters make up more than one-third of the state’s voting age population. 

In March 2022, Black Louisiana voters and civil rights groups brought a lawsuit to challenge the new legislative maps under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA).  The plaintiff’s complaint alleges that the map violates Section 2 “by ‘packing’ large numbers of Black voters into a single majority-Black congressional district, and ‘cracking’ the State’s remaining Black voters among the five remaining districts, where they constitute an ineffective minority unable to participate equally in the electoral process.” It further argues the VRA requires that a second Black-opportunity district be drawn before the 2024 election cycle because the current map dilutes the voting power of Black voters and deprives them of the ability to elect a candidate of their choice.  

In June 2022, a federal district court granted a preliminary injunction against the map, finding that it was racially discriminatory and likely violated the VRA. Shortly after, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling and ordered the Legislature to redraw the map with an additional majority-Black congressional district for use during the 2022 midterm elections.  

Later that month, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily halted the order for new maps and reinstated the discriminatory maps until the Court decided Allen v. Milligan, a similar case challenging Alabama’s congressional maps under Section 2. Nearly a year later, the Supreme Court ruled for the Allen plaintiffs in ordering newly drawn maps and upholding the constitutionality of Section 2 of the VRA. In light of this decision, the Court lifted the temporary stay of the Louisiana case, allowing it to proceed.  

In October 2023, the case returned to the Fifth Circuit for oral arguments on an appeal of the initial preliminary injunction against the maps. Although it vacated the injunction, the Fifth Circuit agreed with the district court that the discriminatory map likely violates the VRA by diluting the voting power of the state’s Black voters. The court then set a deadline of the end of January 2024 for the Legislature to pass a new map that complies with the VRA if it wanted to avoid a trial.  

On January 19, 2024, the Legislature passed a new map with two  congressional districts that provide Black voters with an opportunity to elect their candidates of choice. Four days later, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry signed the bill into law.  

The newly passed map is an important win for Black voters in Louisiana and sets a precedent against discriminatory redistricting efforts nationwide. A result of the long fight for fair maps by the Robinson plaintiffs, it finally provides relief from the dilution of their voting power and halts the use of the discriminatory map for future election cycles. Black Louisianans will finally have an opportunity for their voices to be heard at the ballot box and to elect their preferred candidates.  

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