Court Grants Reprieve to Black District

The U.S. Supreme Court turned Louisiana’s election process upside down yet again Thursday, restoring--at least temporarily--a second majority-black congressional district.

The high court granted an emergency request by the state and the Justice Department to block new congressional districts imposed by a lower court.

U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields (D-La.) called the Supreme Court’s action “a great step in the right direction for voting rights across America.”

Fields was most affected by the court-drawn plan, which had eliminated his mostly black district. The Supreme Court’s order restored the district and said it can be used for this year’s election while the high court considers the case.

The lower court had thrown out a district that resembled a diagonal wedge across the state, ruling that it was unconstitutional because it was “racially gerrymandered.”

The court then imposed its own Louisiana map. It drew seven neat districts along geographic lines, creating six mostly white districts while keeping one mostly black district in the New Orleans area.

The granting of a stay is an indication that the Supreme Court will decide whether to keep districts drawn to give blacks a majority and increase their chances of getting election.

In North Carolina last week, a different panel of three federal judges upheld a congressional district that looks like a long, meandering worm.