The nation’s highest court refused to revive a challenge from a civil rights organization seeking to block enforcement of Louisiana’s congressional redistricting decision.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday declined a request from a civil rights organization seeking to recall the Court’s judgment in Louisiana’s congressional redistricting dispute, leaving intact last month’s ruling that struck down the state’s revised congressional map as unconstitutional.
In an unsigned order, the Court denied the emergency motion after previously ruling 6-3 against Louisiana’s latest congressional boundaries.
The dispute in State of Louisiana v. Phillip Callais and the related Press Robinson v. Phillip Callais centered on a revised congressional map adopted after legal and political pressure to create a second majority-Black congressional district in the state.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from the original ruling issued last month, which invalidated the map.
The decision immediately disrupted Louisiana’s election calendar, forcing the state to postpone its scheduled May 16 congressional primaries after the Court’s ruling automatically dissolved an earlier stay that had temporarily allowed elections to proceed under the challenged map.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry responded following the ruling, stating that the state could no longer legally conduct congressional elections under the existing district lines.
“Yesterday’s historic Supreme Court victory for Louisiana has an immediate consequence for the State. The Supreme Court previously stayed an injunction against the State’s enforcement of the current Congressional map,” Landry said in a statement shared in an X post.
“By the Court’s order, however, that stay automatically terminated with yesterday’s decision. Accordingly, the State is currently enjoined from carrying out congressional elections under the current map. We are working together with the Legislature and the Secretary of State’s office to develop a path forward,” he added.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court accelerated implementation of its ruling, allowing the judgment to immediately take effect ahead of the 2026 midterm election cycle.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented from that expedited action, while Justice Samuel Alito issued a sharply worded response criticizing the dissenting position.
“The dissent in this suit levels charges that cannot go unanswered,” Alito wrote. “The dissent would require that the 2026 congressional elections in Louisiana be held under a map that has been held to be unconstitutional.”
Following that decision, a civil rights organization filed a motion asking the Court to recall its judgment and delay enforcement of the ruling.
The Supreme Court denied that request without any noted dissent, leaving Louisiana officials to continue developing a replacement congressional map before the next federal election cycle.
Original article
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