![Louisiana](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2024/03/Depositphotos_466919260_S.jpg)
Nairne v. Landry
What's at Stake
Nairne v. Landry poses a challenge under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to Louisiana’s House and Senate legislative maps on behalf of plaintiff Black voters and Black voters across the state.
Summary
In March 2022, the ACLU, ACLU of Louisiana, NAACP LDF, and Louisiana attorney John Adcock brought a Section 2 challenge to Louisiana’s House and Senate legislative maps on behalf of Black voters across the state. Both plans pack Black voters into a small number of majority-Black districts and crack other Black communities across other districts to prevent them from forming an effective voting bloc. As a result, Black voters in Louisiana cannot participate equally in the political process or elect candidates of their choice outside of a few majority-Black districts.
A federal court heard the full trial on the merits from November 2023 to December 2023. In the seven-day trial, the court heard testimony from Black Louisiana voters who brought the case as well as statistical evidence of vote dilution and evidence of historical and ongoing voting discrimination in the state from the plaintiffs’ experts.
On February 8, 2024, the district court ruled in the plaintiffs’ favor, finding Louisiana’s House and Senate legislative maps violated Section 2 of the VRA across the state, including around Shreveport, Baton Rouge, Natchitoches, and Lake Charles. Plaintiffs satisfied the Gingles preconditions, and every relevant Senate Factor to overwhelmingly satisfy the totality of the circumstances test demonstrating a clear Section 2 violation. Defendants filed a notice of appeal of the decision in late February 2024. Defendants also moved the full Fifth Circuit to rehear the case en banc before a panel considered it, mainly, to reconsider its precedent holding that a private right of action exists to enforce Section 2 of the VRA. In June 2024, the Fifth Circuit denied Defendants' request. The appeal is now proceeding in due course.
Legal Documents
-
08/16/2024
Plaintiffs' Response Brief -
07/17/2024
Opening Brief of Intervenor Appellants -
07/17/2024
Opening Brief of Louisiana Appellants -
07/01/2024
Unpublished Order -
06/28/2024
Response to Plaintiffs-Appellees' Motion to Expedite Appeal -
06/26/2024
Plaintiffs-Appellees' Motion to Expedite Appeal -
06/24/2024
Order Denying Request to Hear En Banc -
05/03/2024
Plaintiffs-Appellees' Response to Appellants' Petition for Initial Rehearing En Banc -
04/23/2024
Petition for Initial Rehearing En Banc -
03/01/2024
Motion of the United States to Intervene as Appellee
Date Filed: 08/16/2024
Court: Appeals Court (5th Cir.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 07/17/2024
Court: Appeals Court (5th Cir.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 07/17/2024
Court: Appeals Court (5th Cir.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 07/01/2024
Court: Appeals Court (5th Cir.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 06/28/2024
Court: Appeals Court (5th Cir.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 06/26/2024
Court: Appeals Court (5th Cir.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 06/24/2024
Court: Appeals Court (5th Cir.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 05/03/2024
Court: Appeals Court (5th Cir.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 04/23/2024
Court: Appeals Court (5th Cir.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 03/01/2024
Court: Appeals Court (5th Cir.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download Document-
05/03/2024
Ruling and Order -
03/06/2024
Legislative Intervenors' Notice of Appeal -
02/20/2024
Defendants' Opposition to Plaintiffs' Motions for Special Election and Scheduling Order -
02/13/2024
Plaintiffs' Motion for Special Election and Expedited Briefing Schedule -
02/08/2024
Court's Appendix to Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law -
02/12/2024
Plaintiffs' Motion to Set Schedule for Remedial Proceedings -
02/02/2024
Court's Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law -
12/19/2023
Plaintiffs' Post-Trial Brief -
12/19/2023
Defendants' Post-Trial Brief -
12/19/2023
Brief of the United States on the Constitutionality of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act -
12/07/2023
United States' Notice of Intervention -
11/24/2023
Plaintiffs' Opposition to Defendants' Joint Motion to Stay Proceedings -
11/22/2023
Joint Motion to Stay Proceedings -
11/14/2023
Order Denying Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment -
11/13/2023
Defendants' Reply Brief in Support of Summary Judgment -
11/09/2023
Plaintiffs' Pre-Trial Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law -
11/09/2023
Defendants' Notice of Constitutional Question -
11/09/2023
Defendants' Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law -
11/07/2023
Plaintiffs' Supplemental Brief in Opposition to Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment -
11/07/2023
Joint Supplemental Brief in Support of Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment -
10/27/2023
Plaintiffs' Opposition to Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment -
10/06/2023
Defendants' Joint Motion for Summary Judgment -
07/19/2023
Louisiana Defendants' Motion to Continue November 2023 Trial Date -
07/12/2023
Defendants' Motion for Continuance of November 2023 Trial Date -
06/23/2023
Plaintiffs' Post-Milligan Motion for Expedited Briefing Schedule -
08/30/2022
Order Staying Proceedings -
08/15/2022
Defendants' Reply in Support of Motion to Stay Proceedings -
08/08/2022
Plaintiffs' Opposition to Defendants' Motion to Stay Proceedings -
07/18/2022
Defendants' Motion to Stay Proceedings -
05/19/2022
Order Granting Motion for Expedited Consideration -
05/18/2022
Plaintiffs' Motion for Expedited Consideration -
05/17/2022
Order Granting Intervention -
05/02/2022
Opposition to Motion to Intervene of the State of Louisiana by Attorney General Landry -
04/19/2022
Motion of the State of Louisiana to Intervene -
04/04/2022
Motion of the Presiding Officers of the Louisiana Legislature to Intervene -
04/04/2024
Amended Complaint
Date Filed: 05/03/2024
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 03/06/2024
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 02/20/2024
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 02/13/2024
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 02/08/2024
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 02/12/2024
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 02/02/2024
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 12/19/2023
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 12/19/2023
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 12/19/2023
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 12/07/2023
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 11/24/2023
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 11/22/2023
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 11/14/2023
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 11/13/2023
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 11/09/2023
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 11/09/2023
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 11/09/2023
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 11/07/2023
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 11/07/2023
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 10/27/2023
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 10/06/2023
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 07/19/2023
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 07/12/2023
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 06/23/2023
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 08/30/2022
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 08/15/2022
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 08/08/2022
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 07/18/2022
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 05/19/2022
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 05/18/2022
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 05/17/2022
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 05/02/2022
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 04/19/2022
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 04/04/2022
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentDate Filed: 04/04/2024
Court: District Court (M.D. La.)
Affiliate: Louisiana
Download DocumentPress Releases
Civil Rights Groups Secure Victory in Landmark Case Challenging Racial Discrimination in Louisiana's State Legislative Maps