5th Circuit denies Louisiana's appeal in congressional redistricting case

In Louisiana’s congressional redistricting case, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday denied the state’s petition to try to halt the lawsuit based on an unusual argument that says private individuals don’t have the right to sue over voting rights.

Other aspects of the Robinson v. Ardoin lawsuit remain pending in the 5th Circuit, but Friday’s ruling is a win for the Black voters who brought the case in early 2022 after Republican lawmakers adopted a congressional map with just one Black district out of six despite the state having a population that is one-third Black.

Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin is the lead defendant in the case. He and other state Republican leaders appealed a lower federal court ruling that ordered lawmakers to redraw the districts. The defendants grounded one of their arguments in a recent 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that advocates and court watchers have called radical in the way it circumvents the Voting Rights Act.

The 8th Circuit panel held that only the U.S. attorney general — not private individuals or organizations — can challenge redistricting maps. An overwhelming majority of voting rights lawsuits have come from private organizations such as the NAACP and American Civil Liberties Union.

Read more: https://lailluminator.com/2023/12/15/5th-circuit-denies-louisianas-appeal-in-congressional-redistricting-case/