"In arguments Wednesday, lawyers for Louisiana and the Trump administration will try to persuade the justices to wipe away the state's second majority Black congressional district and make it much harder, if not impossible, to take account of race in redistricting. "Race-based redistricting is fundamentally contrary to our Constitution," Louisiana Attorney General Elizabeth Murrill wrote in the state's Supreme Court filing."
"The conservative-dominated court, which just two years ago ended affirmative action in college admissions, could be receptive. At the center of the legal fight is Chief Justice John Roberts, who has long had the landmark civil rights law in his sights, from his time as a young lawyer in the Reagan-era Justice Department to his current job. "It is a sordid business, this divvying us up by race," Roberts wrote in a dissenting opinion in 2006 in his first major voting rights case as chief justice."
Louisiana and the Trump administration seek a Supreme Court ruling to eliminate the state's second majority-Black congressional district and restrict the use of race in drawing districts. The challenge asserts that race-based redistricting violates the Constitution. A mid-decade push to redraw congressional maps followed presidential urging for Republican-controlled states to change lines to protect the GOP's narrow House majority. A decision favoring Louisiana could accelerate similar efforts at state and local levels. The conservative-dominated Court has recently curtailed affirmative action and previously weakened key Voting Rights Act protections, signaling possible receptivity.
Read at Boston.com
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