Nation IN BRIEF : LOUISIANA : Court Eliminates Fields’ District

A federal court redrew Louisiana’s congressional boundary lines, eliminating Democratic Rep. Cleo Fields’ majority black district because it was drawn with an unconstitutional emphasis on race. The new plan imposed by the three-judge federal panel in Shreveport gives the state one mostly black district based in New Orleans and six mostly white districts. “I didn’t expect anything different from this court,” Fields said. “I am glad they made a ruling, so an appeal can finally be taken, and I wish they had ruled earlier.” The state has 90 days to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.