Black Caucus Accuses Louisiana Attorney General of Undermining Voting Rights in Redistricting Case
The Black Caucus says Attorney General Liz Murrill overstepped by challenging a congressional map with two majority-Black districts.
BATON ROUGE, La. — The Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus has taken Attorney General Liz Murrill to court, accusing her of betraying state lawmakers and undermining the Voting Rights Act by reversing course on Louisiana’s congressional map.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday in Baton Rouge’s 19th Judicial District Court, the caucus — joined by White Democratic allies — argues that Murrill exceeded her authority when she urged the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down a map with two majority-Black districts, a plan passed by the Legislature under federal court order. The lawsuit stresses that redistricting is the Legislature’s constitutional duty, not the attorney general’s.
“This is a clear separation of powers issue,” said Rep. Edmond Jordan, D-Baton Rouge. “The attorney general doesn’t get to erase the will of the Legislature just to help a national political agenda. Her job is to defend the laws of Louisiana — not dismantle them.”
The dispute centers on whether Louisiana must maintain two congressional districts where Black voters have a fair chance to elect candidates of their choice. Federal courts ruled the state’s original plan — which locked in five Republican-leaning seats and just one Democratic seat — illegally diluted Black voting power.
Murrill originally defended that map, but after the Supreme Court asked whether Section Two of the Voting Rights Act is constitutional, she reversed her position and attacked the very law that guaranteed Black voters a second district. The caucus contends this abrupt switch was “for purely political purposes,” designed to align Louisiana with Republican efforts to cement control of Congress in 2026.
“This is not about legal theory. This is about protecting the voting rights of Black Louisianans,” Jordan said. “What the attorney general is doing is not just unconstitutional — it’s dangerous.”
The case, assigned to Judge Tiffany Foxworth-Roberts, is the latest flashpoint in a long-running battle over political maps in Louisiana, where Black residents make up nearly a third of the population but continue to fight for fair representation in Congress.
