This week, the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus (LLBC) sent a letter to the President of the State Senate and Speaker of the State House encouraging them to call the Legislature into a special session as soon as possible to pass a congressional map with two opportunity districts for the state’s 1.3 million Black citizens.
Throughout this redistricting cycle, the LLBC has stood with Black voters and warned that any congressional map that did not contain two Majority-Black districts would be challenged in Court and likely struck down as unlawful. Last week’s decision by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed our position in ruling that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits in proving that Louisiana’s congressional map, passed by the majority last year over the strong objection of the LLBC, violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The court gave the legislature until January 15, 2024 to pass a fair, equitable, and lawful map. Throughout last year’s redistricting process, members of the LLBC introduced multiple maps that provided two Majority–Black districts. We urge the President and Speaker to immediately call a special session so that we can pass one of these maps into law and put an end to this years–long political and judicial saga.
