The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this morning in a dispute over redistricting that could

reshape how state legislators draw districts based on race. The case centers on Louisiana's

congressional map, which was recently redrawn to include two majority black districts for the first

time in decades. The new map came after a federal court ruled the state's previous

congressional maps discriminated against black voters in the state. Now a group of voters who

identify themselves as, quote, non-African American sued the state, arguing that the map is racially

biased towards black voters. Joining us now to discuss the case is Amy Howe, who covers the Supreme Court for SCOTUS blog.

Thanks for being here.

Thanks for having me.

So this case united different interests, Louisiana's Republican Attorney General,

and the voters who are represented by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

Why is that? And how did this dispute end up before the Supreme Court?

So back in 2022, Louisiana drew a new map after the 2020 census.

And Louisiana has six congressional districts, and roughly one-third of the state's

majority population is black.

And so it had one majority black district.

So this group of black voters went to court challenging that, saying it was a violation of section

two of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits election practices that result in the denial or

abridgment of the right to vote based on race.

And so this federal district court throughout the map agreeing with the black voters,

the conservative U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld that ruling and said,

you need to draw a new map state or this federal court will do it for you.

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