Louisiana
Why a voting rights advocate says AG Murrill could be tanking Louisiana’s redistricting case • Louisiana Illuminator
The U.S. Supreme Court hasn’t set a date for when it will hear the challenge against Louisiana’s majority-Black 6th Congressional District as an illegal racial gerrymander, but one invested onlooker has made it clear where she stands on the case in the meantime.
In doing so, she claims Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, who’s defending the map, is content to lose the case because it will lead to the removal of the state’s second majority-Black district in Congress.
It’s an allegation Murrill firmly refutes, despite having strenuously defended a prior map in federal court that had just one majority-Black district.
Marina Jenkins, executive director for the National Redistricting Foundation, told reporters last week her group’s “friend of the court” brief (as an outside party to the case) filed Dec. 26 calls on the Supreme Court to keep the current map in place.
Her organization, which is aligned with the Democratic Party, maintains politics, not race, factored into the crafting of the new 6th District. Specifically, Louisiana’s Republican leaders decided who would be sacrificed among their GOP congressional incumbents, she said.
Also, Jenkins suggested that Murrill’s heart might not be in the task of defending the current map.
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Even though Louisiana wants the court to keep the current map in place, she said Murrill and state Solicitor General Benjamin Aguiñaga are trying to undermine the portion of the federal Voting Rights Act that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, Section 2.
“The state of Louisiana has presented outlandish arguments intending to undermine precedent on Section 2 claims, going as far as to say that the state has no obligation to comply with federal law and vote dilution claims,” she said, referencing prior cases when Murrill stood behind maps that watered down Black voting strength.
Murrill firmly rejected Jenkins’ claims Thursday when reached by the Illuminator.
“We absolutely disagree with everything that she said,” the attorney general said in an email from her spokesman. “We have vigorously defended this map, and we look forward to continuing to defend the map at the United States Supreme Court.”
Louisiana filed its own brief Dec. 19 that explains why it supports the map, Murrill said.
“Our brief urges the Supreme Court to uphold [the map] and provide clarity to states that, like Louisiana, are forced into endless litigation every time a new census requires redistricting,” the attorney general wrote.
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A group of non-Black 6th District voters sued in February to throw out the new version of the 6th District state lawmakers had approved the month before. A federal district judge ruled in the plaintiffs’ favor, and the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeal upheld that decision.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal but gave its OK to use its boundaries for the Nov. 5 election. State Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, won his way back to Congress in that race, having previously represented the 4th District from 1993-97. Coincidentally, the federal courts rejected that version of the 4th District because it was deemed an illegal racial gerrymander.
This is not the first time Murrill and the National Redistricting Foundation have crossed paths.
The group, founded in 2017, filed one of its very first lawsuits a year later against Louisiana for its congressional map that had just one majority-Black district out of its six U.S. House seats. The case timed out with the 2020 Census, which required a new round of congressional reapportionment anyway.
The foundation, with the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund leading the way, successfully challenged a congressional map approved in 2022 – one that’s Murrill job to defend as attorney general – with just one majority-Black U.S. House seat in Louisiana. Before that decision could be appealed, its fate became clear in 2023 when the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Alabama’s congressional map that also shorted the state’s Black population.
At the time, legal analysts said the case for a second Black congressional district in Louisiana was even stronger than Alabama’s. So when Republican Gov. Jeff Landry took office in January, he and Murrill conceded the court fight over the 2022 map, and state lawmakers then convened for a special session to update the lines for the 6th District.
When state legislators were given options in January, the NAACP and NRF backed a bill that created a more compact majority-Black seat out of the 5th District anchored in Northeast Louisiana and held by U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, R-Start. The GOP-dominated Legislature instead chose to create a 6th District that stretches awkwardly between Baton Rouge and Northwest Louisiana, largely keeping intact Letlow’s district and the 4th District U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Shreveport, represents
Jenkins was asked why her organization is now defending the new 6th District rather than suing to revive the revised 5th District it originally supported. She said it’s more important for justices to issue a ruling that ends a federal court pattern of “moving the goalposts” on the Voting Rights Act.
“This has been sort of a nonstop attack against enforcement of voting rights, protections for voters of color,” she said.
Republican attorneys general in other states have followed Louisiana’s redistricting court saga closely. Fourteen of them filed an amicus brief in a separate NAACP LDF lawsuit that argues state lawmakers underrepresented Black voters when they redrew districts for the Louisiana House of Representatives.
Murrill defended the Louisiana House map and didn’t join her Republican peers in the brief.
NAACP Legal Defense Fund attorney Jared Evans said at the time the stakes in that case extend well beyond Louisiana.
“They know that if Section 2 is upheld, there are a lot of states that need to have additional … Black districts in their [state] house maps, but also in the congressional map, in the state school board maps and all of the other political boundaries,” Evans said.
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Jenkins highlighted another common thread between Louisiana and other states where Republicans have fought to constrain Black voting strength. The outside law firm Murrill has hired to assist the state in its defense, Holtzman Vogel, also defended what Jenkins called “egregious gerrymanders” in political maps for North Carolina and Ohio.
Drew Ensign, the Holtzman Vogel attorney working on Louisiana’s case, previously worked with Landry and Murrill when they led 24 states in a challenge of the Biden administration’s rejection of Trump-era immigration policy.
Jenkins argues further that race and politics are intertwined. While drawing district lines based on racial makeup is illegal, she noted lawmakers are allowed to take politics into account — making the existing 6th District legally sound.
She contends that the Republican-led Louisiana Legislature and Landry steered the redistricting process to sacrifice Congressman Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge from the 6th District.
Graves had fallen out of favor with Landry after choosing to back business lobbyist and longtime friend Stephen Waguespack in the 2023 governor’s race. He had also lost support from Louisiana’s hardcore GOP sect who viewed Graves as insufficiently supportive of Rep. Steve Scalise’s failed bid for U.S. House speaker.
“The Legislature had multiple pathways to create a … compliant map, but testimony from legislators showed that the boundaries of the new district were designed with political interests top of mind, specifically the uniquely partisan goal of favoring one incumbent,” Jenkins said, referring to Letlow.
With Republicans now in control of Congress, the outcome of this case isn’t likely to affect whatever momentum the incoming Trump administration builds for at least a couple of years. But if historical election patterns hold true and Democrats attain House control in the 2027 midterms, Louisiana’s two majority-Black seats might be key to that swing.
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Louisiana
How to watch Louisiana baseball vs Cincinnati in Starkville Regional
WATCH: Louisiana baseball HC, players talk series win vs No. 20 Coastal Carolina
Hear from UL baseball’s HC Matt Deggs, pitcher Ty Roman and infielder Owen Galt following its 2-1 series win vs Coastal Carolina.
For the second day in a row, Louisiana baseball has its back against the wall in the NCAA Tournament Starkville Regional.
The No. 25 Ragin’ Cajuns (40-24) secured their 40th win of the season and kept their postseason dreams alive by beating Lipscomb 10-4 in an elimination game on Saturday, May 30. Now, the pressure is back on for seventh-year coach Matt Deggs and his squad as they face No. 24 Cincinnati (38-21) in another win-or-go-home matchup on Sunday, May 31 in Starkville, Mississippi.
Against the Bisons, UL used four pitchers, and in total has used seven of its arms so far in tournament play. One of the Cajuns’ fresh arms heading into the matchup against the Bearcats is senior Andrew Herrmann. The lefty made his latest appearance during the Cajuns’ Sun Belt Conference tournament run on May 24.
While the Cajuns come into the match with some momentum, Cincinnati enters the match with a chip on its shoulder after losing its first game of the tournament on Saturday against regional host Mississippi State.
Watch Louisiana baseball vs Cincinnati on ESPN+
What channel is Louisiana baseball vs Cincinnati on?
TV: None
Livestream: ESPN+
Radio: Varsity Network, 96.5 FM
Louisiana vs. Cincinnati will be available live on ESPN+ streaming for the first game of Day 3 of the Starkville Regional. Jack Kizer and Jack DeLongchamps will provide commentary from Dudy Noble Field.
What time does Louisiana baseball play Cincinnati?
Date: Sunday, May 31
Time: 2 p.m. CT
Location: Dude Noble Field, Starkville, Mississippi
The Louisiana vs. Cincinnati game starts at 2 p.m. Sunday at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville, Mississippi.
Starkville Regionals schedule
Friday, May 29
- Game 1: Mississippi State 10, Lipscomb 1
- Game 2: Cincinnati 12, Louisiana 2
Saturday, May 30
- Game 3: Lipscomb 4, Louisiana, 10
- Game 4: Mississippi State vs Cincinnati, 8 p.m. CT
Sunday, May 31
- Game 5: Louisiana vs Cincinnati, 2 p.m. CT
- Game 6: Winner G5 vs Mississippi State, 7 p.m. CT
Monday, June 1
- Game 7: If necessary, TBD
Shannon Belt covers high school sports and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow her high school and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ShannonBelt3. Got questions regarding HS/UL athletics? Send them to Shannon Belt at sbelt@gannett.com.
Louisiana
Louisiana Gov. signs Caleb Wilson Hazing Prevention Act
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — The Caleb Wilson Hazing Prevention Act has been signed into law by Gov. Jeff Landry.
This comes after HB 636, authored by Rep. Vanessa LaFleur (D-Baton Rouge), was signed by the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate on May 19.
The measure redefines hazing, mandates annual prevention training, and strengthens penalties for student organizations involved in hazing.
The legislation is named after a Southern University student who was killed in 2025 after being punched in the chest with boxing gloves during an unsanctioned, off-campus fraternity hazing ritual.
The law will go into effect on August 1.
Latest News
Louisiana
As Seas Rise, Louisiana Faces a Choice: Plan for Movement or Let Crisis Decide – Inside Climate News
The shoreline of Louisiana has never been still or fixed, though recent generations have treated it as such.
Since the last ice age roughly 20,000 years ago, around when people arrived in what is now the United States, sea levels have repeatedly reshaped aspects of the Gulf Coast. But today, human-caused warming is accelerating that ancient process, pushing Louisiana’s dynamic shoreline into conflict with cities, roads, ports and levees built to contain and stabilize nature.
A new study in Nature Sustainability argues that this history is a guide to what comes next. Coastal Louisiana, the authors write, is ground zero for coastal climate adaptation: a place where rising seas and sinking land are already reshaping where people live, and where planning for movement could offer more agency than crisis-driven displacement.
“We have got to remember that when people first came to North America 20,000 years ago, there had already been a lot of climate change,” said Jesse Keenan, a co-author of the paper and professor of sustainable real estate and urban planning at Tulane University. “There’s been a lot of sea level rise in the region, and Indigenous populations have always moved with that shoreline.”
In geologic time, he added, “New Orleans has been there for just a blip. We’ve got to get it out of our heads that this is terra firma.”
The physical stakes are still stark. Southern Louisiana is facing a convergence of rising seas, wetland erosion, stronger storms and land subsidence, much of it worsened by decades of oil and gas canals cut through the coast. The state contains what theIPCC has identified as the world’s most exposed coastal zone, where the shoreline is projected to move more than 30 miles inland of New Orleans.
By comparing today’s warming trajectory with the last interglacial period roughly 125,000 years ago, when global temperatures were similar and seas were much higher, the new study estimates that the region could eventually face three to seven meters of sea-level rise and lose as much as three-quarters of its remaining coastal wetlands.
Keenan emphasizes that the point is not to forecast a sudden disappearance, but to widen the planning lens: if the coast is already moving, Louisiana has a chance to decide how people, infrastructure and economies move with it.
The danger is assuming everyone has the same ability to act on that choice. Social mobility, he said, depends on financial mobility— which means adaptation cannot simply tell people to move to safer ground. It has to move opportunity, too: jobs, industries, schools and affordable housing beyond the form of voluntary buyouts, a common managed-retreat tool in which governments purchase flood-prone homes and return the land to open space.
“Outmigration is often framed as tragedy or failure, but in some cases it signals agency,” said Brianna Castro, a co-author of the paper, who highlights that this is a chance to plan around choices people are already making.
Nearly all of Louisiana’s coastal zone has lost residents since 2000, and since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, about a quarter of Orleans Parish’s population has left the area, while more than half of rural Cameron Parish has relocated.
“If you build jobs and you build homes, specifically affordable homes, [on] safer ground, people will come,” said Castro, who is a professor of urban sustainability at Yale University’s School of the Environment.
The opportunity, she argues, is to make those moves possible before crisis forces them on harsher terms—with schools, housing and work in places where communities can carry culture forward rather than be scattered by disaster. New Orleans at its core, she said, is not confined to its current footprint.
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“We’re not going to ‘lose’ New Orleans,” she said. “New Orleans has an incredibly rich local culture, and that will carry across the lake.” What must change, she argued, is the assumption that a moving coast can be met with immovable systems.
That idea resonates beyond Louisiana. Vivek Shandas, a professor of earth, environment and society at Portland State University who was not involved in the study, said the paper widens the frame from emergency response to long-term adaptation.
“We’ve been resettling for hundreds of thousands of years as a species,” Shandas said. “I think we’ve gotten really complacent with thinking that once we’ve set up a place and invested in it that it has to be like that forever. But the Earth is a very dynamic and incredibly fluid system.”
For that reason, he said, Louisiana is a “bellwether” for the rest of the country—a place where planners, policymakers and communities can study what adaptation strategies work before the same pressures intensify elsewhere.
“It’s super important for people to recognize that what we’re ultimately calling for in this paper is a public, private, and civic engagement with adaptation policy, planning and practice,” said Keenan.
The study points to immediate action projects, including reviving the canceled Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion—a $3-billion coastal restoration project designed to reconnect the Mississippi River with the Barataria Basin, the rapidly disappearing wetland area on the west bank of the river south of New Orleans—and advancing the Breton diversion on the other side of the Mississippi River.
Unlike dredging, which moves sediment once and deposits it in place, river diversions are designed to restore a more continuous flow of sediment into wetlands, mimicking the processes that built the delta over thousands of years. Dredged material can create land, Keenan said, but it does not sustain the same root systems and ecological processes as a living riverine system.
“We’ve got a big challenge here, but this isn’t about the challenge. This is about the opportunity,” he said. “You catch more flies with honey than vinegar. There is so much economic opportunity to engage with people and to build things. Data centers won’t give people more jobs, but adapting to climate change just might.”
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