Louisiana v. Callais

Last updated
Louisiana v. Callais
Seal of the United States Supreme Court.svg
Argued March 24, 2025
Full case nameLouisiana v. Phillip Callais, et al.
Docket nos. 24-109
24-110
Questions presented
  • Did the majority of the Western District of Louisiana err in finding that race pre-dominated in the Legislature’s enactment of Louisiana Senate Bill 8 (S.B. 8)?
  • Did the majority err in finding that S.B. 8 fails strict scrutiny?
  • Did the majority err in subjecting S.B. 8 to the Gingles preconditions?
  • Is this action non-justiciable?
Court membership
Chief Justice
John Roberts
Associate Justices
Clarence Thomas  · Samuel Alito
Sonia Sotomayor  · Elena Kagan
Neil Gorsuch  · Brett Kavanaugh
Amy Coney Barrett  · Ketanji Brown Jackson

Louisiana v. Callais, consolidated with Robinson v. Callais, is a pending United States Supreme Court case dealing with racial gerrymandering and redistricting in the state of Louisiana following the 2020 United States Census. Though the case was heard during the Supreme Court's 2024 term, the Court rescheduled additional hearings during the 2025 term.

Contents

Background

On conclusion of the 2020 United States census, the state of Louisana was assigned six seats in the United States House of Representatives. The census also found that about one third of the state were black. The Louisiana State Legislature, where the Republican Party held a majority, approved of new maps that were largely unchanged from those in the previous decade, giving the state five districts non-black majorities and only one with a black majority. [1]

The new maps were challenged in court by black voters, claiming it violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), which disallows discrimination by race in elections. Federal district judge Shelly Dick ruled in June 2022 that the new map did violate the VRA and ordered the legislator to draw up a new map that respected two black-majority districts to reflect the census results. [2] The state's secretary of state Kyle Ardoin requested a stay of Dick's order to the Fifth Circuit, which refused to grant the motion. Ardoin then sought relief from the Supreme Court, which granted a stay of the order until they had decided on a similar redistricting case from Alabama, Allen v. Milligan , where the state's new redistricting map had reduced the number of black-majority districts compared to their proportion of the state's population. [3]

The Supreme Court ruled in Allen v. Milligan in June 2023 that Alabama's new redistricting map violated the VRA. [4] In wake of that decision, the Supreme Court lifted its stay of Dick's ruling, returning the case to the Fifth Circuit. The Fifth Circuit established that the state legislature must come up with a new map respecting the Allen decision by January 30, 2024, as to be ready for the 2024 general elections, or else Dick would draw up a new map. [5] The state legislature held a special session in January 2024 to approve the new map with a second black-majority district. [6]

On issuance of the new maps, a group calling themselves "non-African-American voters" filed suit against the state, claiming the new districts were racially gerrymandered and violated the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. [6] As this was a constitutional challenge rather than a statuary, the case was heard by a panel of three federal district judges from the Western District of Louisiana, rather than a single judge; the panel ruled in a 2-1 decision that the new map was racially gerrymandered and blocked use of the new map in May 2024. The state sought a stay from the Supreme Court claiming it was too close to the election to derive a new map. The Supreme Court ordered that the state use the new January 2024 maps with the second black-majority district for the 2024 elections due to the timing, but did not rule on the merits of the panel's decision. [7]

Supreme Court

Two separate petitions were made to the Supreme Court to hear the challenge on the district panel discussion, one from the state itself (Louisiana v. Callais) and another from black voters and groups like NAACP (Robinson v. Callais). The Supreme Court certified both cases and consolidated them in November 2024. [8]

Oral hearings were first held on March 24, 2025. [9] The court issued an order on June 27, 2025, to hold a second oral session in the 2025 term, with only Justice Clarence Thomas dissenting from this. [10]

During the recess prior to the 2025 term, the Supreme Court issued an order asking all parties to submit briefs on whether the new maps violated the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. Several news commentators said this move suggested the Supreme Court was considering that complying with Section 2 of the VRA would be unconstitutional, further weakening the VRA. [11] [12] [13] Among these briefs, Louisiana submitted a brief stating the state was no longer defending its position in the case at the Supreme Court, and instead was arguing to advance the claim that the new maps violated the 14th and 15th Amendment. [14]

The second oral session for the case is scheduled for October 15, 2025.

References

  1. Muller, Wesley; O'Donoghue, Julie; Canicosa, JC (February 18, 2022). "GOP keeps grip on Louisiana with status quo redistricting maps". Louisiana Illuminator . Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  2. Muller, Wesley (June 6, 2022). "Federal court rejects Louisiana congressional map". Louisiana Illuminator . Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  3. Howe, Amy (June 29, 2022). "Justices reinstate Louisiana voting map that is being challenged under Voting Rights Act". SCOTUSBlog . Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  4. Sherman, Mark (June 8, 2023). "Supreme Court rules in favor of Black Alabama voters in unexpected defense of Voting Rights Act". Associated Press . Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  5. Greenberg, Madeleine (December 8, 2023). "Louisiana Republicans Ask 5th Circuit To Rehear Critical Voting Rights Act Case". Democracy Docket . Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  6. 1 2 Hutchinson, Piper (February 1, 2024). "Voters sue over creation of Louisiana's second majority-Black congressional district". Louisiana Illuminator . Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  7. Sherman, Mark; McGill, Kevin (May 15, 2024). "Supreme Court orders Louisiana to use congressional map with additional Black district in 2024 vote". Associated Press . Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  8. Hurley, Lawrence (November 4, 2024). "Supreme Court takes up Louisiana racial gerrymandering dispute". NBC News . Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  9. Fritze, John (March 24, 2025). "Supreme Court presses Louisiana on use of race during 2022 redistricting". CNN . Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  10. Fritze, John (June 27, 2025). "Supreme Court punts Louisiana's long-contested congressional map to the fall". CNN . Retrieved August 2, 2025.
  11. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-raises-stakes-louisiana-redistricting-case-rcna222580
  12. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-louisiana-case-racial-whether-racial-redistricting-unconstitutional/
  13. https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/01/politics/supreme-court-louisiana-redistricting-case-voting-rights-act
  14. Sherman, Mark (August 27, 2025). "Louisiana urges Supreme Court to bar use of race in redistricting, in attack on Voting Rights Act". Associated Press . Retrieved August 27, 2025.