Attorney General Paxton joined an Alabama-led amicus brief in the New Orleans-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in support of Louisiana’s new electoral redistricting map. In the lower court, the left-leaning NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union sued Louisiana, arguing that the state’s redistricting efforts were “racist.” The district court ruled against the state, concluding that the state did not “meet the standards set forth in the Voting Rights Act” and directed the Louisiana Legislature to create an additional majority black district. Louisiana appealed.
The amicus brief urges the Court of Appeals to stay the lower court’s order. Louisiana’s redistricting map was, in fact, race-neutral. The district court wrongfully blocked the map and required the state to gerrymander a district based on race because of its mistaken belief that the Voting Rights Act trumps the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the laws.
Read the amicus brief here.