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  • Redistricting

Louisiana v. Callais

  • Louisiana
  • Ongoing

Following a district court’s preliminary injunction against Louisiana’s 2021 congressional map for likely violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), on January 22, 2024, the legislature enacted SB 8, a map that includes two congressional districts in which Black voters had the opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. On January 31, 2024, a group of self-proclaimed “non-African American voters”—the “Callais plaintiffs”—challenged SB 8, alleging that it was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander in violation of the 14th and 15th Amendments and intentionally discriminated against “non-African American” voters. They argued that the legislators’ interest in drawing a map that included a second Black-opportunity district indicated a disregard for traditional redistricting criteria and established a racial quota, resulting in discrimination against “non-African American voters.”

The NRF-supported Galmon voters sought unsuccessfully to intervene in the litigation to defend the SB 8 map, but the district court permitted their participation in any subsequent remedial proceedings. On April 30, 2024, the court granted a preliminary injunction, concluding that CD-6—the new Black-opportunity district drawn to comply with the VRA—violates the federal Equal Protection Clause, and enjoined the state from using SB 8. The U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay of the district court’s injunction upon an emergency request. On a subsequent merits appeal to the Court, oral argument was held on March 25, 2025, on whether the district court erred in its judgment. On June 27, 2025—the last decision day of the term—the Court announced that it would rehear arguments during the fall term. On August 1, 2025, the Court directed the parties to submit supplemental briefing on only one question: Whether the State’s intentional creation of a second majority-minority congressional district violates the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The Court heard a second oral argument on October 15, 2025, and, on April 29, 2026, it held that SB 8 was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander because Section 2 of the VRA did not require the state to create two Black-opportunity districts. The Court’s holding dramatically altered the judicial test under Section 2, now requiring would-be plaintiffs to provide evidence of racially discriminatory intent rather than of the effect of vote dilution on racial minorities to prevail.

The same day that Court issued its opinion, the Callais plaintiffs petitioned the Court to send its opinion and judgment to the district court immediately to prevent SB 8 from being used in Louisiana’s May 16, 2026, primary election. On May 4, the Court granted the Callais plaintiffs’ request and remanded the case. At the district court, the NRF-supported Galmon and Robinson intervenors filed a joint motion for a stay, requesting that the injunction remain in place until after the 2026 elections since voting had already commenced. The district court denied the intervenors’ motion, and, on May 29, 2026, Louisiana Governor Landry signed SB 121 in law, which enacted a new congressional map with only one Black-opportunity district. Notwithstanding the Callais plaintiffs’ victory at the Supreme Court, they persist in seeking their preferred remedy: a congressional map with no Black-opportunity districts. The district court’s remedial review process of SB 121 is yet to be determined.

Case Documents