Federal court denies stay, says Louisiana must draw new Congressional map
A decision has been made in the United State District Court, Western District of Louisiana, Monroe Division about a stay request for the recent decision to throw out the new Louisiana Congressional map.
BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) - A decision has been made in the United States District Court, Western District of Louisiana, Monroe Division about a stay request for the recent decision to throw out the new Louisiana Congressional map.
The court decided to deny the joint motion for a stay pending appeal.
The decision stated, "Having polled the three members of the panel, all of the members of the panel do not assent to a stay of the court's judgment pending appeal."
Attorney General Liz Murrill and Gov. Jeff Landry wanted the new Louisiana Congressional district to be used during this year's election.
In January, Landry signed a bill that created a second majority-Black Congressional district.
Last month, a panel of three federal judges said that the map did not meet Equal Protection Clause requirements.
Earlier this week, Murrill said the congressional map debate appears to be going to the Supreme Court.
Her full statement is below.
"The Secretary of State has consistently said May 15 is a hard, real deadline. Yet the Panel seems inclined toward creating more chaos in our Congressional elections in a presidential election year. While we will not have a definitive ruling for another day at least, we appear to be heading to the Supreme Court this week.
"My position has been clear: SB8 is the current will of the Legislature and should be implemented. If that isn’t an option, for whatever reason, then HB1 from the 2022 session, which is what’s currently loaded in the system, should remain in place while this matter goes up to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court needs to provide instructions to State Legislatures so States are not on a perpetual federal litigation roller coaster over good faith efforts at redistricting. It’s confusing to voters, it’s expensive for taxpayers, and it’s inconsistent with the federal Constitution."
A panel of federal judges said they will draw a new map if the Louisiana Legislature does not pass a new one by June 3.