Supreme Court punts decision on Louisiana redistricting case to next term

The United States Supreme Court on Friday chose to delay its ruling in a Louisiana redistricting case until its next term, after it released five other major decisions, including one that limits lower courts abilities to issue nationwide injunctions.

The Supreme Court was expected to release six rulings on Friday, which it confirmed was the last day of its current term, but is allowed to push some cases until the next term, or extend its term into July. Normally the court wraps in June.

The high court did not give a reasoning for its decision to push the ruling until October, but it is expected to hear new arguments in the case. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was the only justice to dissent from the main ruling.

“Congress requires this court to exercise jurisdiction over constitutional challenges to congressional redistricting, and we accordingly have an obligation to resolve such challenges promptly,” Thomas wrote in his dissent, per CNN.

The case centers on whether a Louisiana congressional map that includes two majority-black districts is constitutional. The Louisiana state legislature initially had just one majority-black district, which a federal court ruled likely violated the Voting Rights Act.

Challengers of the new map argue that the changes constitute racial gerrymandering, which is illegal, but the designers of the map argue that race was not the primary motivator behind the changes.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.