


The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to permit a federal judge in Louisiana from moving ahead on plans to oversee the drawing of a new state congressional map that could be used in next year's general election.
The justices rejected an emergency request by civil rights groups who say a Republican-drawn map used in the 2022 midterm election disfavored black voters and likely violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which bars racial discrimination in voting.
JIM JORDAN WON'T HOLD THIRD BALLOT, WILL BACK TEMPORARY POWERS FOR MCHENRY
Justice Samuel Alito referred the request to the full court, and there were no public dissents from the decision. Justice Kentanji Brown Jackson concurred, writing a brief opinion in agreement with the outcome.
She wrote, "Nothing in our decision not to summarily reverse the Fifth Circuit should be taken to endorse the practice of issuing an extraordinary writ of mandamus in these or similar circumstances."
The decision leaves in place a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit that blocked U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick from having a hearing on imposing a court-ordered map.
However, the Supreme Court doesn't have the final say on this matter, as a separate but similar issue is pending at the appeals court.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Dick's preliminary injunction had told the Republican-controlled Louisiana legislator to create two House districts, rather than just one, where black voters would represent the majority of voters. That order was likely believed to have boosted Democrats' chances of regaining control of the House in next year's congressional election.
The Supreme Court in June ruled in a gerrymandering case against a Republican-drawn map in Alabama that a lower court had said unlawfully weakened black voters from electing a candidate of their choice by not forming two majority-black districts.