Denise Marcelle, a Democrat and member of the Black caucus said on the House floor Wednesday. We vote along racial lines and we vote along party lines,” Rep. “We don’t vote like we love Blacks in this state. On Wednesday, many members of the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus made emotional pleas with their colleagues to “do what is right.” Lawmaker’s across the aisle have vehemently opposed the adopted maps. Schexnayder declined to comment about Dick’s ruling and her remarks about the speaker. “It concerns me that we are now being asked to redo in just five days something that we passed by over two-thirds of both bodies after a very long year of work,” Schexnayder told the House. Schexnayder has opposed redoing the map, which he has defended as “fair and constitutional.” While on the House floor Wednesday, the speaker called the session “premature and unnecessary until the legal process has played out.” “The court is not persuaded and finds disingenuous activity happening on the House side under the leadership of (Schexnayder),” Dick said. Schexnayder said his bill was a “placeholder” that could be amended to add a second majority-Black district if the other proposals die in committee. She noted that federal penalties for failing to follow a court order include fines and imprisonment. At one point Dick asked the speaker why he should not be held in contempt of court because he filed a bill that mirrors the current map, not one with a second majority-Black district that the judge has ordered.
While Dick described Cortez’s testimony as “candid” she was visibly displeased with Schexnayder.
However, during Thursday’s hearing Cortez said although the task is difficult it is not impossible. Schexnayder and Senate President Page Cortez, both Republicans, say it will be extremely challenging to agree on and pass a new map in the six-day timeframe allotted. Louisiana lawmakers returned to the Capitol on Wednesday, for the special session called by the governor, to resume remapping amid growing frustrations under the looming court deadline. “The evidence of Louisiana’s long and ongoing history of voting-related discrimination weighs heavily in favor of Plaintiffs,” Dick wrote in the ruling. The appeals court is scheduled to hear arguments on the case July 8. Circuit Court of Appeal briefly put a hold on Dick’s deadline, but removed that hold Sunday.
Last week, Dick threw out the adopted map for violating the Voting Rights Act and ordered lawmakers to create a new one with a second majority Black district by June 20. Nearly one-third of Louisiana’s population is Black. Democrats and the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus argue that the current map dilutes the political clout of African American voters and that at least two of the six districts should have Black majorities. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, have been fighting over the boundaries since February, when lawmakers approved a congressional map with white majorities in five of six districts. The Republican-dominated legislature and Gov. “With five days to work with they met for 90 minutes,” Dick said of the state House’s brief gathering Wednesday. Dick additionally described the efforts by House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, on the first day of the six-day special session, as “disingenuous” and “insincere.” District Judge Shelly Dick was unpersuaded by the legislative leaders that they required more time to complete that once-a-decade task of redistricting. BATON ROUGE (AP) - A request by Louisiana legislative leaders to extend the deadline of completing a new congressional map - that must include a second majority-Black district - was rejected by a federal judge Thursday.ĭuring the morning hearing, U.S.
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