A majority of justices on the Louisiana Supreme Court are calling on incoming state leaders to redraw the court’s seven districts to add a second with a majority of Black voters. They’re urging that it be part of an upcoming court-ordered redistricting session of the Legislature.
Five justices signed a letter sent Wednesday to Gov.-elect Jeff Landry, Attorney General-elect Liz Murrill, incoming Louisiana House Speaker Phillip DeVillier and state Senate President designee Cameron Henry. In it, they lend their support to a proposal that creates a second minority-majority district among the court’s seven seats.
Landry plans to call lawmakers into session Jan. 15-23 to handle a federal court-ordered recrafting of the state’s congressional districts. The next governor’s hand is forced on congressional districts because U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick set a Jan. 31 deadline for the Legislature to add a second majority-Black district—a reapportionment task its Republican majority refused to handle last year.
Louisiana law doesn’t require lawmakers to redraw boundaries for Louisiana Supreme Court districts, unlike legally mandated decennial updates to boundaries for its U.S. House, legislative and state school board seats. Although their letter carries no more weight than a strong suggestion, the justices hint that the court’s current composition could face a legal challenge similar to the one the congressional map faces. Read the full story from Louisiana Illuminator.
