Hearing set on lawsuit to overturn Louisiana congressional map with second Black district

A federal court hearing has been set on a lawsuit seeking to overturn Louisiana's new congressional map that creates a second majority Black district.

The hearing is set for April 8-9 in Louisiana Western District U.S. Court in Shreveport, where a three-judge panel will hear arguments.

The three panel includes Judge Carl Stewart, a Bill Clinton appointee, from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and Judges Robert Summershays and David Joseph, both Donald Trump appointees, from the Western District.

Twelve plaintiffs contend the map passed by the Republican dominated Legislature and signed into law by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry in January is unconstitutional because they allege lawmakers drew the boundaries solely based on race.

“Here, the State has engaged in explicit, racial segregation of voters and intentional discrimination against voters based on race,” the plaintiffs said. “The State has drawn lines between neighbors and divided communities. In most cases, the lines separate African American and non-African American voters from their communities and assign them to Districts with dominating populations far away.”

The lawsuit is the latest litigation challenging the state's congressional boundaries.

Late last year a federal appeals court upheld Baton Rouge Middle District Judge Shelly Dick's earlier ruling requiring Louisiana's congressional map be redrawn to include a second majority Black district out of six to comply with the Voting Rights Act.

State lawmakers, led by Republican super majorities in the House and Senate, previously failed to comply with Dick's order that will likely cost Republicans a seat in Congress, but Landry urged lawmakers to draw a new map so the new boundaries wouldn't be left up to Dick.

"We took the pen out of the hand of a non-elected judge and placed it in the hands of the people," Landry said after legislators passed Senate Bill 8 by Republican Harrisonburg Sen. Glen Womack.

Lawmakers dismantled Republican U.S. Rep. Garret Graves' 6th Congressional District to create the new majority Black district that includes parts of Shreveport, Acadiana, Alexandria and Baton Rouge as the population centers, putting Graves' political future in danger.

Graves previously told USA Today Network he believes the map is unconstitutional and won't stand up to a court challenge.

"I don't see any scenario where this map holds," Graves said. "They solely took race into consideration, which you can't do."

Those who led the two-year legal effort to force the state to add a second Black district have hailed the new map as historic.

More: Who's in, who's out of race for Louisiana's new majority Black congressional district seat

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Will judges void Louisiana congressional map with second Black district?