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Supreme Court clears the way for Louisiana congressional map that benefits Democrats, Black voters

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Supreme Court clears the way for Louisiana congressional map that benefits Democrats, Black voters

The Supreme Court paused a chaotic legal fight over Louisiana’s congressional districts in a brief order that will likely allow the state to use a map in this year’s election that creates a second majority-Black district and benefits Democrats.

(CNN) � The Supreme Court paused a chaotic legal fight over  in a Wednesday that will likely allow the state to use a map in this year’s election that creates a second majority-Black district and benefits Democrats.

The court’s three liberal justices publicly dissented from the decision.

Louisiana specifically asked the Supreme Court last week to rely on a legal doctrine , which it sometimes invokes to stay out of last-minute election lawsuits. The majority cited Purcell in its brief order but did not otherwise explain its reasoning.

But the court has never defined “last-minute� and it has faced blowback in recent years for applying that doctrine in a way critics see as inconsistent. Louisiana won’t hold its congressional primary election until November.

The ruling will have an impact beyond the Louisiana district, which explains the vote count, said CNN Supreme Court Analyst Steve Vladeck.

“This ruling is a short-term win for Black voters in Louisiana, and, thus, Democrats, but a long-term expansion of a deeply controversial approach to how federal courts handle election-year voting cases � which is a big part of why the justices seem to all have ended up in unpredictable positions here,� said Vladeck, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law.

In a brief separate opinion, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said it was premature for the Supreme Court to intervene in the case.

“Rather than wading in now, I would have let the District Court’s remedial process run its course before considering whether our emergency intervention was warranted,� Jackson wrote.

This story has been updated with additional details.

The-CNN-Wire

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