ICYMI: NRF Submits Amicus Brief to SCOTUS in Louisiana Redistricting Case
For Immediate Release
December 26, 2024
Contact
Madia Coleman
coleman@redistrictingfoundation.org
Washington, D.C. – Today, voters supported by the National Redistricting Foundation (NRF), the 501(c)(3) affiliate of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), submitted an amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court on behalf of the Galmon Amici in Louisiana v. Callais, asking the Court to permanently reinstate Louisiana’s Voting Rights Act (VRA)-compliant congressional map, which includes two Black opportunity districts.
“We are once again going before the U.S. Supreme Court, because anti-democratic special interests are determined to gerrymander at the expense of American citizens, and the Court must step in to protect their rights,” said Marina Jenkins, Executive Director of the NRF. “A textbook application of Section 2 requires Louisiana to have a congressional map with two Black opportunity districts, a fact that was affirmed by the Supreme Court’s decision in Allen v. Milligan less than two years ago. The Court must enforce federal law and adhere to its own precedent to protect the voting rights of Black Louisianians by permanently reinstating Louisiana’s Voting Rights Act-compliant congressional map.”
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND:
In 2022, the NRF initiated Galmon v. Ardoin, consolidated with Robinson v. Ardoin, a lawsuit that challenged Louisiana’s gerrymandered congressional map in violation of Section 2 of the VRA and ultimately was successful in requiring the State of Louisiana to enact a new map that includes two Black opportunity districts in compliance with Section 2.
Immediately after enactment of the new map, a new lawsuit was filed and a lower court wrongly struck down Louisiana’s VRA-compliant map. Following that decision, the NRF-supported plaintiffs, alongside the Robinson plaintiffs, filed an emergency stay request to the U.S. Supreme Court asking the Court to block the lower court’s decision and keep the VRA-compliant map in place for the 2024 election while the case was appealed—and the Court did so. Now the U.S. Supreme Court will consider Louisiana v. Callais in its current 2024-2025 Term. This case will not only determine the future of Louisiana’s VRA-compliant congressional map, but also could impact the future of critical VRA protections. To learn more about the NRF’s work, click here.
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