Reject request by Alabama-led coalition to overturn Supreme Court precedent guiding implementation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act 

OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta today, as part of a coalition of 20 attorneys general, joined an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in defense of Louisiana’s revised congressional map, which includes two majority-Black districts. The Louisiana legislature revised its map after a court order found that the state’s original map, which contained only one majority-Black district, likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. In the brief, the attorneys general urge the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a decision by a separate court finding that Louisiana’s revised map constitutes an impermissible racial gerrymandering.  

“There is nothing more fundamental to our democracy than the constitutional right to vote,” said Attorney General Bonta. “60 years ago, the Voting Rights Act sought to ensure that every American had the ability to exercise that right, regardless of their race. I respectfully urge the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold Louisiana’s revised Congressional map and allow states the flexibility they need to address violations of the Voting Rights Act.”

In 2022, the Louisiana legislature enacted a Congressional map that included one majority-Black district. The map was challenged under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits voting practices or procedures that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or membership in one of the language minority groups identified in the Act. A district court preliminarily enjoined the use of the map and ordered the legislature to draw a new one that included a second majority-Black district. The legislature’s new map was subsequently challenged by a separate group of plaintiffs, who argued that it was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.

In the amicus brief, the attorneys general urge the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a lower court judgment finding that Louisiana’s revised map constituted an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. They argue that states must have flexibility in redrawing electoral districts to remedy Voting Rights Act violations, and the district court’s finding that Louisiana’s original redistricting plan likely violated the Voting Rights Act provided Louisiana with the requisite “good reason” for promulgating the revised version of the map. The attorneys general also urge the U.S. Supreme Court to decline the request of a multistate coalition led by Alabama to toss out precedent upholding Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which has guided states’ redistricting practices for decades and which the court recently affirmed.  

Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of the District of Columbia, New York, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin in filing the brief. 

A copy of the brief is available here.