The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed Louisiana to use a Republican-designed congressional charter this fall that, according to a federal district judge, is likely to reduce the state’s black electorate. The judges agreed to a request by the state’s Republican Secretary of State to wait for U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick to order the state to create a second district where African-Americans would have the opportunity to choose a candidate of their choice. An appeals court upheld the district court’s decision, but the state legislature refused to redesign the map. The majority of the Supreme Court on Tuesday did not give a reason for accepting the request of the state, as is usual in emergency orders. However, he noted that the court accepted an Alabama case for the term, which begins in October, that raises similar questions about a state’s obligation to create what might be called a majority-minority constituency under the Voting Rights Act. Supreme Court Says Alabama Does Not Need to Create New Minority Congressional District The three liberal judges of the court – Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan – said they would have rejected the state request. That would mean new districts before the autumn elections. Louisiana has six members of Congress. But only one of the districts is a majority of blacks, even though African Americans make up about a third of the state’s voters. Democratic Gov. John Bell Edwards vetoed the map, but his Republican-led legislature went too far. In a separate case in February, the Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling to redesign the Alabama Congressional Charter to accommodate the rise of black voters there. He called for a second constituency favorable to black candidates. Supreme Court Says Federal Courts Have No Role in Deciding on Party Claims Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, who was the majority in blocking the lower court ruling, said the charter drawn up by the legislature should remain in force and that the court would take over the case to decide the substance of the dispute. . It includes what Republicans say is a conflict between the requirements of the suffrage law and the guarantee of an equal protection clause that race does not play a very important role in government decisions. “The underlying question here is whether a second congressional district with a majority (out of seven in Alabama) is required by the Voting Rights Act and is not prohibited by the Equal Protection Clause,” Cavanaugh wrote. “But the case law of the Court in this area is clearly vague and confused.” The Alabama case, Merrill vs. Milligan, is one of the first to be considered by the court in October. Tuesday’s decree said the Louisiana case would be held pending the Alabama case.
