The Supreme Court is asked to clarify competing federal laws before future elections.
Federal laws governing congressional redistricting present a complex dilemma for states seeking to design voting districts to avoid racial discrimination. The practice of drawing boundaries to favor one political party is called gerrymandering. A Louisiana redistricting case pending before the US Supreme Court displays the “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” tension between the Voting Rights Act of 1965 – which requires consideration of race – and the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution, which prohibits discrimination based on skin color.
The Mark of Zorro
Louisiana’s effort to comply fairly with conflicting federal laws illustrates a rock-and-a-hard-place difficulty. Following its 1990 Census, the state sought to…
