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Supreme Court Delays Ruling on Louisiana’s Two Black-Majority Map

The Supreme Court called for supplemental briefing with new oral arguments next term to resolve tensions between minority representation requirements and equal protection limits.

A woman looks at sample ballots while waiting at City Hall to cast her ballot for the upcoming presidential election as early voting begins in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S., October 16, 2020. REUTERS/Kathleen Flynn/File Photo
The Supreme Court is seen, June 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
People gather outside of the United States Supreme Court following arguments heard in Louisiana v. Callais on March 24, 2025. Last year, Louisiana sent two Black representatives to Congress for the first time in almost three decades under a congressional map being challenged as unfair to the state’s non-Black residents. The Supreme Court heard that challenge in the latest case that could affect how states can consider race when creating legislative maps.
U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas appears before swearing in Pam Bondi as U.S. Attorney General in the Oval Office at the White House on February 05, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Overview

  • The high court said it will issue a schedule for supplemental briefing and rearguments in October without offering an explanation for its delay
  • Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, arguing the court has mandatory jurisdiction and should promptly resolve conflicts between Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and the Constitution
  • Louisiana’s remedial map, which added a second majority-Black district, remains in effect and is likely to govern the 2026 congressional elections
  • The dispute centers on balancing the Voting Rights Act’s mandate to prevent minority vote dilution against the Fourteenth Amendment’s ban on race-predominant districting
  • Louisiana’s solicitor general has defended the map as a politically rational response to judicial orders that also helped protect key Republican incumbents