BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill says the “chaos” surrounding the Congressional map is headed to the Supreme Court. A panel of three federal judges recently agreed to throw out the new Louisiana Congressional district map adopted by the Legislature earlier this year . In their judgment, they wrote that the map, which was designed to create a second majority-Black district to meet requirements set by federal court order out of the Louisiana Middle District, does not meet Equal Protection Clause requirements. The current map nearly cuts the 4th district, covering western Louisiana, in half with the 6th district. The ruling means the state can’t use it in any future elections. In a Monday statement, Murrill said there won’t be a definitive ruling for another day but “we appear to be heading to the Supreme Court this week.” Read her full statement below. The Secretary of State has consistently said May 15 is a hard, real deadline. Yet the Panel seems inclined toward creating more chaos in our Congressional elections in a presidential election year. While we will not have a definitive ruling for another day at least, we appear to be heading to the Supreme Court this week. My position has been clear: SB8 is the current will of the Legislature and should be implemented. If that isn’t an option, for whatever reason, then HB1 from the 2022 session, which is what’s currently loaded in the system, should remain in place while this matter goes up to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court needs to provide instructions to State Legislatures so States are not on a perpetual federal litigation roller coaster over good faith efforts at redistricting. It’s confusing to voters, it’s expensive for taxpayers, and it’s inconsistent with the federal Constitution. Read the Louisiana Secretary of State’s statement below. As we’ve said from the beginning, May 15th is our hard deadline. Otherwise, we cannot offer comment at this time.’ The Court held a Status Conference via Zoom on Monday, May 6. It asked the parties to propose a schedule for the trial’s next phase by Tuesday, May 7. Louisiana will file a brief explaining if the Louisiana Legislature can make a new Congressional map in time for the 2024 election. Among the other items discussed, the brief shall clearly state whether there is a legislative vehicle to enact a new congressional districting map during the 2024 regular session. The defendant, Secretary of State Nancy Landry, was told to file a brief and outline the deadlines for the next Congressional election. The Court will consider the briefing and the parties’ scheduling proposals. Then, it will enter a scheduling order.
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