Republican voters file Callais v. Edwards challenging Louisiana second Black-majority district

A group of non-Black Louisiana voters filed Callais v. Edwards on Jan. 29, 2024, in the Western District of Louisiana, challenging the state's newly drawn congressional map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The plaintiffs argued that SB 8's 6th Congressional District, stretching 250 miles from Shreveport to Baton Rouge, used race as the predominant factor in violation of the Equal Protection Clause. The case eventually reached the Supreme Court as Louisiana v. Callais, becoming the vehicle for the most consequential voting rights ruling since Shelby County.