Court Battles

Alito, Jackson spar as Supreme Court speeds up Louisiana redistricting judgment

by Zach Schonfeld and Caroline Vakil - 05/04/26 7:49 PM ET

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by Zach Schonfeld and Caroline Vakil - 05/04/26 7:49 PM ET

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The Supreme Court on Monday immediately put into effect its ruling invalidating Louisiana’s congressional map, leaving conservative Justice Samuel Alito and liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on opposite sides and accusing each other of lacking restraint.

The order speeds up the normal 32-day timeline before the justices formally return a case to the lower court.

Some groups questioned if the lower court had jumped the gun in the Louisiana case when it moved quickly to ensure state Republicans would have an opportunity to draw a new map before conducting this year’s election. Technically, the case remained with the justices.

By returning it, the decision clears the way for the state to almost certainly redraw one of the state’s two Black-majority House districts, which would offer a pickup opportunity to House Republicans ahead of November.

In dissent, Jackson said the majority “unshackles itself” from “constraints.” The court should follow the default rule, she insisted.

It sparked a sharp rebuke from Alito, joined by fellow Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch. The trio, all part of the court’s conservative wing, called one part of Jackson’s dissent “baseless and insulting.”

“The dissent in this suit levels charges that cannot go unanswered,” Alito wrote. “The dissent would require that the 2026 congressional elections in Louisiana be held under a map that has been held to be unconstitutional.”

No other justice publicly disclosed their vote.

Last week, the court ruled Louisiana unconstitutionally added a second majority-Black district in a blockbuster 6-3 decision that weakened a central provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

The decision landed just as Louisiana officials were sending out overseas ballots and getting ready to open early voting for the primary, throwing a potential wrench into the timeline.

The justices gave no guidance, however, on whether the state should redraw its map before this year’s midterms, although the high court has previously ruled that changes to elections should be avoided too close to the actual date of an election.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) delayed the primary so state Republicans could get to work on a new map. And the lower court said the state would have an opportunity to do so.

But the case technically remained at the Supreme Court, which has a 32-day default window following an opinion before a case is returned to the lower court.

The parties battled about what the justices should do.

The self-described “non-African American” voters who successfully challenged Louisiana’s map told the Supreme Court they should forego the normal waiting period before they release the case back to the lower court. That would ensure Louisiana could redraw its map without delay.

At the same time, the high court has been sensitive to encouraging changes close to an actual election. Louisiana’s primary is May 16; however, its congressional primaries have now been delayed.

The Black voters who originally forced Louisiana’s second majority-Black congressional district said the Supreme Court should hold onto the case until after the election. And Louisiana took no position, believing it already had the authority it needed to immediately remove the invalidated district.

“The Court’s decision in these cases has spawned chaos in the State of Louisiana,” Jackson wrote in her dissent, adding later “The question whether our decision should affect the map to be used in the ongoing primaries raises a host of legal and political questions that are entirely independent of the issue in Callais.”

The Supreme Court’s decision has come against the backdrop of a broader redistricting arms race across the country where Republican and Democratic states have looked to redraw different states’ congressional maps ahead of the midterms as both parties eye the House majority.

The House is seen as Democrats’ best chance at flipping one of Congress’s chambers in November and a divided Congress threatens to thwart the last two years of President Trump’s second term. Democrats have also signaled they plan to launch probes into the president, and his administration should they take back the House.

Republicans, initially pressed by the White House and other groups, began redistricting in Texas before moving onto other states like Missouri, North Carolina and Florida. Meanwhile, Democrats have rushed to nix those GOP gains in California and Virginia.

Some litigation is ongoing about the status of several congressional maps.

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