SCOTUS Issues Urgent Judgment Late Monday, Clears Path for State to Cut Dem House Seats by 50 Percent

The Supreme Court agreed Monday to throw out racial gerrymandering in Louisiana’s congressional districts, triggering a war of words among justices.

The court ruled last week that districts drawn to enhance the power of black voters under the auspices of the 1965 Voting Rights Act are no longer legitimate, as noted by NBC News.

That means Louisiana, which has six congressional seats, will redraw lines that currently protect two majority-black districts. That process is likely to reduce the number of Democratic seats in Louisiana from two to one.

The ruling caused a procedural train wreck, because until the court issues its final order on the decision, that process cannot start. As it is, Louisiana’s primary elections are on hold until new maps are drawn.

That led the state to ask that a longstanding rule allowing a 32-day period between the decision and the order enforcing it to be waived so