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On Mar.24, the Supreme Court will hear a Louisiana redistricting case which is pivotal to the fight for fair representation of Black and minority voters in that state and across the South. 

In a state that has six congressional seats, and a 31.4 percent Black population, only one district was majority-Black. In early 2024 a second Black-majority district was added. The U.S. Supreme Court had upheld a congressional redistricting plan in Louisiana that provided for the creation of a second majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana but only for the 2024 election cycle. The justices had said that a challenge to the 2nd District could be filed, a challenge that the court would hear next term. 

A group of conservatives calling themselves "non-African-American voters" challenged the legislature's map, contending it amounted to a racial gerrymander in violation of the Constitution's guarantee to equal protection of the law. The state legislature's map, they said, relied too heavily on race, and thus was unconstitutional. If the Supreme Court ruling agrees, it would be a major body blow to what remains of the once-highly prized Voting Rights Act.

“The Louisiana case now presents the next major test in this ongoing legal battle,” said panelists at an Ethnic Media Services briefing. “State leaders are actively working to weaken voting protections.”

“If I could put it very simply, voter suppression in Louisiana is like putting a boot on the neck of black voters. Voting rights activists and attorneys, like the ones that you see featured on our panel today, are simply asking for that boot to be removed, not temporarily, but permanently in accordance with the Constitution and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Conservatives like the ones in the case before the Supreme Court seemed to think that having to take the boots off the necks of black voters is somehow reverse discrimination,” said Alana Odoms Hebert, Executive Director, American Civil Liberties Union-Louisiana (ACLU-LA). 

This could create a cascade effect where once again, states around the nation would start being quite nefarious in the way that they are doing their redistricting processes and completely ignoring the census, completely ignoring population changes, that suggest that the country is becoming blacker and browner, and continue to try to maintain districts that largely elect candidates of choice for white voters, feared the panelists. 

“We have been working to increase turnout for our elections. We are also continuing to fight. We still feel very confident that the court will continue to uphold section two of the Voting Rights Act,” they said. 

Impact of the decision

Brennan Center for Justice recently released a report that stated appropriate enforcement of the Voting Rights Act to address cases of race discrimination increases participation among Black registered voters and reduces the racial turnout gap. Voter discrimination leads to voter apathy. 

Ashley Shelton with the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice agreed.  “We did see in the fall election, a two point increase in voter turnout among black voters in Louisiana and almost a five point increase in Alabama.”

In the reverse scenario young people leave the state. “That's why our young people are leaving in droves because they cannot trust them to do the right thing. This fight isn't just about March 24th,” she said.

“The weight of the law, and how the Supreme Court interprets it will go down to every single district map in the country so that could mean your city council, your school board, a public service commission. They will all be guided by the precedent established here,” said Davante Lewis, Public Service Commissioner, LA District 3. 

 “If the Supreme Court once again stands on the side of fairness and makes sure the full protection of the Voting Rights Act cannot be corrupted by some type of gamesmanship, there will be true ramifications in the immediate future for pending cases for maps that might be in limbo right now.”

There is a lot at stake on March 24 when the Supreme Court will hear a Louisiana redistricting case. 

“Voting is about more than just ballots and elections. It's about dignity. It is about power. It is about whether we are seen, whether our voices matter, whether this country truly belongs to all of us or just to a selected few,” said Alanah Odoms Hebert. She added,

“Justice is not automatic. It is something that we must fight for generation after generation,” she said.