Black Louisiana voters and civil rights advocates mass outside the Supreme Court in March 2025 ahead of oral arguments in Louisiana v. Callais, centered on the state's congressional map. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Legal Defense Fund )
"There is no legal basis for this proposition, and the state offers no evidence that conditions in Louisiana have changed" enough to negate that need, the court said in its ruling.
One judge on the panel issued a stay before the court’s ruling could take force, though the issue is something of a moot point, since the Supreme Court, which is also reviewing the map, had already done so earlier this year.
The ruling from the Fifth Circuit, which has a reputation as one of the more conservative appeals courts, is a victory in the near term for the ACLU and other plaintiffs who sued to block the state's map from taking force.
Still, any relief for plaintiffs from the appeals court ruling is likely to be short-lived.
The Supreme Court in March heard oral arguments in Louisiana v. Callais, which also centers on the legality of Louisiana's redistricting map and whether race should be considered a factor in drawing new congressional districts.
Oral arguments then focused heavily on whether Louisiana's redistricting efforts were narrowly tailored enough to meet constitutional requirements and whether race was used in a way that violated the law, as the appellees alleged.
The Supreme Court in June said it would hear additional arguments in the case in the fall term, citing the need for more information before it could issue a ruling.
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An envelope containing a 2020 census letter is seen in this May 21, 2020 photo. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
The first version, which included only one majority-Black district, was blocked by a federal court in 2022. The court sided with the Louisiana State Conference of the NAACP and other plaintiffs, ruling the map diluted Black voting power and ordering the state to redraw it by January 2024.
The new map, S.B. 8, created the second Black-majority district. But it was almost immediately challenged by a group of non-Black plaintiffs in court, who took issue with a new district that stretched some 250 miles from Louisiana's northwest corner of Shreveport to Baton Rouge, in the state's southeast.
They argued in their lawsuit that the state violated the equal protection clause by relying too heavily on race to draw the maps and created a "sinuous and jagged second majority-Black district."
The intense court fights in Louisiana underscore the broader redistricting battles playing out in Republican- and Democrat-led states across the country, as they spar over new congressional maps with an eye to the looming midterm elections.
In Texas, tensions reached a fever pitch after Democratic state legislators fled the Lone Star State to block Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's ability to convene a legislative quorum to pass the state's aggressive new redistricting map, which would create five additional Republican-leaning districts.
In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom responded by introducing a new map of his own that favors Democrats.
The move highlights how both parties are engaged in aggressive redistricting battles, with Republican-led states pushing maps to defend the GOP’s slim House majority and Democrats seeking to expand their own advantages. As with most midterms following a new president’s election, 2026 is expected to serve as a referendum on the White House — raising GOP concerns that they could lose control of the chamber.
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks during a news conference on Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, for her part, vowed at a press conference earlier this month to explore "every option" in redrawing state lines.
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"We are at war," Hochul said, speaking alongside the Texas Democrats who fled to her state.
Breanne Deppisch is a national politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI, and other national news.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/federal-appeals-court-blocks-louisianas-new-congressional-map-blow-gop