Current:Home > StocksAppeals court blocks hearings on drawing a second majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana -GrowthInsight
Appeals court blocks hearings on drawing a second majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana
View
Date:2025-04-14 08:36:04
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge’s plan to hold hearings next week to draw up congressional boundary lines giving Louisiana a second majority-Black district was blocked Thursday by a divided appeals court panel.
Supporters of establishing a second such district had hoped a recent Supreme Court ruling upholding a redrawn map in Alabama would soon result in similar results in Louisiana.
But in a 2-1 ruling, a panel of judges at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Baton Rouge-based U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick was moving too quickly and must give the state more time to consider a new map.
Dick had issued an injunction last year blocking a map that had been drawn up by the Legislature, saying it violated the Voting Rights Act. But the map was used in the 2022 elections after the Supreme Court put the Louisiana case on hold, pending the outcome of the Alabama case.
Writing for the majority in Thursday’s appellate ruling, Judge Edith Jones said Dick had set an “impossibly short timetable” last year for lawmakers to draw new maps. Now, she said, “there is no warrant for the court’s rushed remedial hearing by the first week of October 2023, months in advance of deadlines for districting, candidate filing, and all the minutiae of the 2024 elections.”
Judge James Ho, nominated to the court by former President Donald Trump, concurred with Jones, a nominee of former President Ronald Reagan.
Judge Stephen Higginson, nominated by former President Barack Obama, dissented, noting that the issues has been before the courts for over a year.
Louisiana has six U.S. House districts. Five are currently represented by white Republicans and one by a Black Democrat.
The Legislature met last year to adjust congressional district boundaries to account for population shifts reflected in the last census.
The maps passed by the Republican-dominated body included only one mostly Black district and were passed over the objection of Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, who agreed with voting rights advocates who said a second majority-Black district is needed in a state where the population is roughly one-third Black.
Another panel of the 5th Circuit is scheduled to hear arguments next week on the injunction Dick issued last year that blocked the use of the 2022 map.
veryGood! (171)
Related
- Paris Olympics live updates: Quincy Hall wins 400m thriller; USA women's hoops in action
- Tom Holland Addresses Zendaya Breakup Rumors
- 2 brothers fall into frozen pond while ice fishing on New York lake, 1 survives and 1 dies
- As a new generation rises, tension between free speech and inclusivity on college campuses simmers
- Most popular books of the week: See what topped USA TODAY's bestselling books list
- Navy helicopter crashes into San Diego Bay, all 6 people on board survive
- 6 Turkish soldiers killed in an attack on a base in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region
- As Vermont grapples with spike in overdose deaths, House approves safe injection sites
- Civic engagement nonprofits say democracy needs support in between big elections. Do funders agree?
- Josh Groban never gave up his dream of playing 'Sweeney Todd'
Ranking
- $73.5M beach replenishment project starts in January at Jersey Shore
- Michael J. Fox explains why 'Parkinson's has been a gift' at National Board of Review gala
- Google layoffs 2024: Hundreds of employees on hardware, engineering teams lose jobs
- Los Angeles police Chief Michel Moore announces he is retiring at the end of February
- The 401(k) millionaires club keeps growing. We'll tell you how to join.
- Demi Moore Shares Favorite Part of Being Grandma to Rumer Willis' Daughter Louetta
- Counting the days: Families of Hamas hostages prepare to mark loved ones’ 100th day in captivity
- After Alabama speculation, Florida State coach Mike Norvell signs 8-year extension
Recommendation
Scoot flight from Singapore to Wuhan turns back after 'technical issue' detected
The Australian Open and what to know: Earlier start. Netflix curse? Osaka’s back. Nadal’s not
Nevada 'life coach' sentenced in Ponzi scheme, gambled away cash from clients: Prosecutors
EPA proposes a fee aimed at reducing climate-warming methane emissions
Jorge Ramos reveals his final day with 'Noticiero Univision': 'It's been quite a ride'
Senate confirms 1st woman to lead Maine National Guard
Donald Trump ordered to pay The New York Times and its reporters nearly $400,000 in legal fees
North Carolina Gov. Cooper gets temporary legal win in fight with legislature over board’s makeup