AG James Advocates for State Power in Redrawing Congressional Districts Before the Supreme Court

NEW YORK – New York’s Attorney General Letitia James co-directed a coalition of 20 attorneys general in a plea to the U.S. Supreme Court to reaffirm that states possess the constitutional authority to redraw legislative maps in response to probable infringements of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). In an amicus brief submitted in Louisiana v. Callais, the coalition stands behind Louisiana’s decision to create a congressional map that incorporates two majority-Black districts after a previous map was determined to violate the VRA. The attorneys general contend that the constitution grants state legislatures considerable “leeway” to formulate legislative maps that rectify potential VRA infringements.

“Voters ought to have the ability to choose their representatives, rather than the opposite,” stated Attorney General James. “State legislatures hold a constitutional privilege to modify district maps when they are found to violate the Voting Rights Act, failing to justly represent their constituents. My office is co-leading this amicus brief to guarantee that voters are continuously represented accurately and fairly at every level of government.”

In 2022, a federal court in the Middle District of Louisiana identified that the state’s congressional map probably undermined the votes of Black residents, constituting a violation of Section 2 of the VRA. In consequence, to adhere to the VRA, the Louisiana legislature established a new map in 2024 that included a second majority-Black district. Subsequently, a different group of self-identified “non-African American voters” litigated against the state in the Western District of Louisiana, claiming that the 2024 corrective map with an additional majority-Black district represented an unconstitutional racial gerrymander in breach of the Equal Protection Clause. Despite U.S. Supreme Court precedents allowing states to redistrict when there is a “valid rationale” to believe they must do so to meet the VRA, the three-judge court in the Western District of Louisiana prohibited the state from utilizing the 2024 VRA-compliant map, leaving Louisiana caught between conflicting court orders and hampering the state’s ability to design legislative districts that align with federal voting rights law. The U.S. Supreme Court consented to determine whether the constitutional ruling of the Western District of Louisiana was accurate.

The brief clarifies that the determination by a federal court that Louisiana’s current map likely breached the VRA provided the state with a valid rationale to believe that implementing a second majority-Black district was necessary to adhere to the federal voting rights law and therefore did not contravene the constitution. The brief additionally implores the Court to dismiss the claims in an amicus brief presented by Alabama and 12 other states aimed at overturning longstanding interpretations of Section 2 of the VRA. Not only would addressing Alabama’s claims in this case be inappropriate, but accepting those claims would jeopardize states’ long-standing reliance on the Supreme Court’s established interpretation of Section 2.

Joining Attorney General James in submitting this amicus brief are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.

Attorney General James has taken a leading role in safeguarding voting rights in New York state and across the nation. In August 2024, Attorney General James adeptly defended New York’s Early Mail Voter Act. In April 2024, Attorney General James secured up to $1.25 million from two conspiracy theorists who threatened Black voters in New York using intimidating robocalls. Prior to every general and primary election, Attorney General James issues notifications to ensure New Yorkers are informed of their voting rights and encourages them to reach out to OAG’s Election Protection Hotline for assistance with their ballots. In November 2022, Attorney General James released a statement endorsing the Appellate Division, Third Department’s ruling supporting New York’s absentee ballot reforms to enhance access to the polls. In August 2021, Attorney General James co-led a coalition of 22 attorneys general opposing Georgia’s discriminatory law that would create additional obstacles for millions of Georgians—particularly Black Georgians—when voting. In May 2021, Attorney General James successfully took legal action against the Rensselaer County Board of Elections (BOE) for not providing adequate and equitable access to early voting sites. In the lead-up to the 2020 primary elections, Attorney General James advocated for automatic absentee voting to enable individuals to vote safely during the COVID-19 outbreak.