Louisiana Congressional Redistricting (2011 Map)

Lawsuit filed by individual voters challenging Louisiana’s 2011 congressional map for violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The plaintiffs allege that the map “packs” Black voters into a single congressional district and spreads cohesive Black communities among surrounding districts, effectively preventing Black voters from forming a majority in two congressional districts. The district court denied the Louisiana secretary of state’s motions to dismiss. The secretary then filed a third-party complaint against the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. attorney general asking the court to either dismiss the case or hold that the government erred in its prior preclearance approval of Louisiana’s map that the secretary relied on. The district court stayed (meaning paused) the case pending resolution of a similar gerrymandering case involving Mississippi. The stay was lifted after that decision, but the parties then entered a joint stipulation of dismissal.

Last updated: September 3, 2021 2:56 pm EST