After rejecting Louisiana’s request that it invalidate a key provision of the federal Voting Rights Act in a state-level redistricting lawsuit, a federal appeals court is considering whether it should pause its ruling.
In an Aug. 14 ruling, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a federal district court’s decision that the Louisiana State Legislature-ordered redrawing of Louisiana’s legislative districts violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The case is known as Nairne v. Landry. On Aug. 15, the state asked the circuit court to put the ruling on hold.
Section 2 prohibits voting practices or procedures that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or membership in a large language minority group. Courts have interpreted the section to forbid race-based gerrymandering. Gerrymandering refers to the manipulation of electoral district boundaries to benefit a particular party or constituency….