Supreme Court to resolve Louisiana gerrymander
The court will hear a case challenging the second majority-Black district in the state


What happened
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to adjudicate a long-running fight over Louisiana's 6th Congressional District, which one federal court ordered to be redrawn as a majority-Black district and a second federal court tried to undo. Black people make up about a third of Louisiana's population, but only one of its six House members is Black.
Who said what
Louisiana's Republican-controlled Legislature created only one majority-Black congressional district after the 2020 Census, but a court found that the map "diluted the power of Black voters" and ordered it redrawn, Politico said. When the Legislature approved a second map in January with two majority-Black districts, a "group of self-described 'non-African American voters' sued," The Washington Post said, and a divided three-judge panel agreed the new map was "an unconstitutional racial gerrymander that violated the equal protection clause of the Constitution."
The Supreme Court blocked that ruling and said Louisiana must use the map with two Black districts in the 2024 election. The high court will now hopefully resolve this "absurdly messy" case, Vox said. The eventual ruling "could reshape how states interpret the Voting Rights Act in drawing voting maps" with race in mind, The New York Times said.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) decided not to seek reelection in the new 6th District, and Democrats are hopeful their candidate Cleo Fields can flip the "once reliably Republican" seat in this "critical election year" where either party could win control of the House, The Associated Press said. The Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments "early next year" and issue its ruling in "late June or early July," SCOTUSblog said.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battle
Speed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
-
Florida aims to end all state vaccine requirements
Speed Read Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to cut vaccine access and install anti-vaccine activists at the FDA and CDC
-
US kills 11 on 'drug-carrying boat' off Venezuela
Speed Read Trump claimed those killed in the strike were 'positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists' shipping drugs to the US