The U.S. Supreme Court combined Callais V. Landry and Robinson v. Landry into Louisiana v. Callais. Here’s the background of both cases:
In Robinson v. Landry, the Middle District of Louisiana and Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals further affirmed that the Louisiana Legislature likely violated the VRA when passing a map in 2022 that provided Black voters an opportunity to elect their candidates of choice in only one district. As a result, in 2024, Louisiana had to redraw its congressional map to include two districts where Black voters had an opportunity to elect their candidates of choice in order to comply with Section 2 of the VRA.
In January 2024, a group of non-Black voters challenged the 2024 map as a racial gerrymander in violation of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in Callais v. Landry. The voters claimed, despite contrary facts, that “race was the sole reason” for the district lines. The lawsuit aimed to once again undermine the political power of Black Louisianians. The same Black voters who filed Robinson v. Landry stepped in as intervening defendants in Callais to defend the 2024 map with two majority-Black districts and ensure that the rights of Black voters are protected. Their continued fight is about fairness, opportunity, and representation.
When a divided panel of three district court judges found the map unconstitutional and overturned it, the Robinson litigants and State defendants appealed to the Supreme Court, which paused the lower court’s ruling and allowed for the 2024 map to remain in place for the 2024 election cycle. The Supreme Court later agreed to hear the case, consolidated under Louisiana v. Callais. After oral arguments in March 2025, the court opted to schedule the case for reargument rather than issue a decision by the end of the spring term.