(C) Verite News New Orleans This story was originally published by Verite News New Orleans and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . 5th Circuit will rehear case that created Louisiana’s only Black supreme court seat [1] ['Wesley Muller', 'Louisiana Illuminator', 'More Wesley Muller', 'Verite News'] Date: 2024-01-30 The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to rehear a decades old voting rights case that established the only majority-Black state supreme court district in Louisiana, according to the court’s docket Monday afternoon. On Monday, the 5th Circuit granted a petition from the State of Louisiana for a rehearing en banc on Chisom v. State of Louisiana, a gerrymandering lawsuit that stems from the 1980s. In the lawsuit, Black voters argued the Louisiana Legislature gerrymandered the Louisiana Supreme Court districts by packing Black neighborhoods into majority-white districts. After protracted litigation that reached the U.S. Supreme Court, the state eventually agreed to a consent judgment in 1992 that settled the case by creating a majority-Black district based out of New Orleans. Associate Justice Piper Griffin currently holds the seat. However, the state, through then-Attorney General Jeff Landry, moved to dissolve the consent judgment in 2021 ahead of the legislature’s special session on redistricting the following year. Landry, a Republican who now serves as Louisiana’s governor, argued that the state no longer needs a federal court to force it to comply with the Voting Rights Act. He further argued that the consent judgment was only meant to be temporary and is being incorrectly used as a “perpetual federal check on the State.” A district court initially declined the state’s request, but the state appealed to the 5th Circuit, where a three-judge panel also initially rejected the state’s arguments. However, the state continued its fight, and 17 out of the 26 judges at the 5th Circuit have agreed to rehear the case. The development comes on the heels of Landry’s recent decision to call a redistricting session earlier this month and press his Republican colleagues in the legislature to add a second majority-Black congressional district, which they did. Attorneys involved in the lawsuit weren’t immediately willing to comment Monday afternoon as they were still reviewing the court’s order. This is a developing story. This article first appeared on Louisiana Illuminator and is republished here under a Creative Commons license. Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com. Follow Louisiana Illuminator on Facebook and Twitter. Related Stories Republish This Story Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. [END] --- [1] Url: https://veritenews.org/2024/01/30/5th-circuit-will-rehear-case-that-created-louisianas-only-black-supreme-court-seat/ Published and (C) by Verite News New Orleans Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 US. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/veritenews/