NY Times: “The Supreme Court on Tuesday reinstated a Republican-drawn congressional map in Louisiana that a federal judge had said diluted the power of Black voters.
The court’s three liberal members dissented.
The Supreme Court’s brief order, which included no reasoning, blocked the judge’s ruling and granted a petition seeking review in the case. The justices will, the order said, hold the Louisiana case while the court decides a similar one from Alabama in its next term.
As a practical matter, the court’s order ensures that congressional elections in Louisiana this fall will proceed under a map fashioned by Republican lawmakers, delivering a setback to Democrats, who face tight races in their bid to retain control of Congress.
The dispute is part of a pitched battle over redistricting playing out across the country. Civil rights leaders and some Democrats say the redistricting process often disadvantages growing minority communities. Republican state officials say the Constitution allows only a limited role for the consideration of race in drawing voting districts.
The court’s order is a further indication that it is open to weakening the role race may play in drawing voting districts for federal elections. By taking up the Alabama case, the court has suggested it is willing to test the Voting Rights Act after limiting the reach of the law in other contexts.”