Robinson v. Ardoin

• Docket Number: 22-30333
• Decision Date: 10 November 2023
• Parties: Press Robinson; Edgar Cage; Dorothy Nairne; Edwin Rene Soule; Alice Washington; Clee Earnest Lowe; Davante Lewis; Martha Davis; Ambrose Sims; National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Louisiana State Conference, also known as NAACP; Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Kyle Ardoin, in his official capacity as Secretary of State for Louisiana, Defendant-Appellant, Clay Schexnayder; Patrick Page Cortez; State of Louisiana - Attorney General Jeff Landry, Intervenor Defendants-Appellants, Edward Galmon, Sr.; Ciara Hart; Norris Henderson; Tramelle Howard, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Kyle Ardoin, in his official capacity as Secretary of State for Louisiana, Defendant -Appellant, Clay Schexnayder; Patrick Page Cortez; State of Louisiana - Attorney General Jeff Landry, Movants-Appellants.
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)

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Press Robinson; Edgar Cage; Dorothy Nairne; Edwin Rene Soule; Alice Washington; Clee Earnest Lowe; Davante Lewis; Martha Davis; Ambrose Sims; National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Louisiana State Conference, also known as NAACP; Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v.
Kyle Ardoin, in his official capacity as Secretary of State for Louisiana, Defendant-Appellant,

Clay Schexnayder; Patrick Page Cortez; State of Louisiana - Attorney General Jeff Landry, Intervenor Defendants-Appellants,

Edward Galmon, Sr.; Ciara Hart; Norris Henderson; Tramelle Howard, Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v.
Kyle Ardoin, in his official capacity as Secretary of State for Louisiana, Defendant -Appellant,

Clay Schexnayder; Patrick Page Cortez; State of Louisiana - Attorney General Jeff Landry, Movants-Appellants.

No. 22-30333

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit

November 10, 2023

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana USDC Nos. 3:22-CV-211, 3:22-CV-214

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Before KING, ELROD, and SOUTHWICK, Circuit Judges.

Leslie H. Southwick, Circuit Judge

Plaintiffs challenge the Louisiana Legislature's 2022 redistricting map for electing the state's six members of the United States House of Representatives. The district court preliminarily enjoined use of that map for the 2022 congressional elections. The United States Supreme Court stayed that injunction, pending resolution of a case involving Alabama's congressional redistricting plan. About a year later, the Supreme Court resolved the Alabama case. We now apply the Court's reasoning to the Louisiana redistricting.

We are reviewing the grant of a preliminary injunction and not a final judgment in this case. The district court did not clearly err in its necessary fact-findings nor commit legal error in its conclusions that the Plaintiffs were likely to succeed on their claim that there was a violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in the Legislature's planned redistricting. Nevertheless, the district court's 2022 preliminary injunction, issued with the urgency of establishing a map for the 2022 elections, is no longer necessary. After oral

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argument, we are convinced the parties can proceed beyond the stage of a preliminary injunction to accomplish the following tasks.

We will allow the Louisiana Legislature until January 15, 2024, to enact a new congressional redistricting plan, to consider but reject adopting a new plan, or for the defendant Secretary of State and/or Attorney General to inform the district court that no special session of the Legislature will be called for this purpose. It is true the State did not request such an opportunity in its briefing to this court, but an opportunity to adopt a new plan is appropriate since redistricting is a quintessential obligation of a state after a census. Further, in recent filings with the Supreme Court, the State did urge allowing the Legislature to act. The district court is not to conduct any proceedings on the merits of the claim until after the Louisiana Legislature concludes its consideration of adopting a new plan, or the district court is informed that no new plan will be considered, or January 15, 2024, whichever comes first. The district court will also have discretion to grant limited additional time if requested.

The present uncertainty of what will occur by January 15 leaves the next steps contingent. If the Legislature adopts a new plan, then proceedings in district court can begin immediately after that occurs. If the Plaintiffs object to the plan, then the district court will again need to consider whether the plan is consistent with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act or, instead, whether another preliminary injunction is needed. On the other hand, as soon as it becomes clear there will be no new plan to consider, the district court should proceed beyond the preliminary injunction stage for review of H.B. 1. It should conduct a trial on the merits of the validity of the plan, and, if held to be invalid, decide on a plan for the 2024 elections.

At oral argument before this court, defense counsel suggested a February 15, 2024, start date for a trial on the merits to allow newly elected

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officials to play an effective role in the process. He additionally suggested a May 30 deadline for a new map to be drawn, approved, and enacted for the 2024 elections. We mention those only to indicate the State has offered suggestions. The district court will need to make its own decision on the proper scheduling. The court is to conclude all necessary proceedings in sufficient time to allow at least initial review by this court and for the result to be used for the 2024 Louisiana congressional elections.

PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND

All states must redraw their congressional district boundaries following each decennial census. U.S. Const. art. I, § 2, cl. 3. The 2020 census showed Louisiana's population had increased since 2010, especially the minority populations. This census data was delivered in April 2021 and revealed that Louisiana would continue to have six congressional seats. Robinson v. Ardoin, 605 F.Supp.3d 759, 767 (M.D. La. 2022).

At its 2021 regular session, the Louisiana Legislature adopted Rule No. 21 of the Joint Rules of the Senate and House of Representatives, which established redistricting criteria.^[1] The first paragraph of the Rule states: "To promote the development of constitutionally and legally acceptable redistricting plans, the Legislature of Louisiana adopts the criteria contained in this Joint Rule, declaring the same to constitute minimally acceptable criteria for consideration of redistricting plans in the manner specified in this Joint Rule." La. Leg. J.R. 21A. The district court considered the requirements of the Joint Rule throughout its opinion granting the preliminary injunction.

In preparation for its redistricting session, the Legislature held public meetings throughout the state, starting in October 2021 and ending in

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January 2022. The meetings presented information about the redistricting process and solicited public comment. Robinson, 605 F.Supp.3d at 767. Legislators stated these meetings were "absolutely vital to this process." Id. The parties refer to these as the "roadshow" meetings. Id. The Legislature then convened in an extraordinary session on February 1, 2022, to begin the redistricting process. Id. at 767-68. House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 5 were identical bills that set forth a congressional district map for the 2022 election. Id. at 768. Each was passed in its respective chamber on February 18, 2022. Id. "[T]he congressional districts in the 2022 enacted plan strongly resemble the previous districts" the Legislature adopted in 2011. Id. at 796. The Second Congressional District remained the only one of the six with a black majority. Id. at 768.

On March 9, 2022, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards separately vetoed H.B. 1 and S.B. 5. Governor's Veto Letters to Speaker of the House and President of the Senate, reprinted in 2022 OFFICIAL JOURNAL AND LEGISLATIVE CALENDAR OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATE OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA, 48TH EXTRAORDINARY SESS. AND 2ND VETO SESS., at 188-89, 194-95 (2022). He wrote each chamber "that this map violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and further is not in line with the principle of fundamental fairness that should have driven this process." Id. Governor Edwards applauded proposed maps that would have created two majority-black districts. Id. On March 30, 2022, the Legislature overrode Governor Edwards's veto of H.B. 1, and the map became law. Id. at 189-90 (House); 195-96 (Senate).

The same day the veto of H.B. 1 was overridden, two separate Plaintiff groups filed complaints against Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin in district court, alleging the enacted map diluted black voting strength. Robinson, 605 F.Supp.3d at 768. The Plaintiffs claimed that the majority of black voters were "packed" into the single black-majority district, and the

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remaining were "cracked" among the other five districts. Id. They argued this caused the black voters to be sufficiently outnumbered so as to ensure unequal participation in the voting process, id., and Louisiana was required under the Voting Rights Act to create a second black-majority district. Robinson v. Ardoin, 37 F.4th 208, 215 (5th Cir. 2022).

After the complaints were filed, Patrick Page Cortez, President of the Louisiana State Senate; Clay Schexnayder, Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives; and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry all moved to intervene as Defendants. Robinson, 605 F.Supp.3d at 768-69. The Louisiana Black Caucus was also allowed to intervene. Id. at 769. The district court then consolidated the two Plaintiffs' suits. Id.

The Plaintiffs filed motions for a preliminary injunction on April 15, 2022. The Plaintiffs sought to enjoin Secretary Ardoin from utilizing the enacted map in the 2022 congressional elections, to set a deadline for the Legislature to enact a Section 2-compliant map, and, if the Legislature failed to do so, to order the November 2022 election be conducted under one of the illustrative plans proposed by the Plaintiffs.

The district court conducted an expedited five-day evidentiary hearing on the preliminary injunction in May 2022. Id. Attorney General Landry filed an emergency motion to stay mere days before the hearing was to begin, arguing that the Supreme Court's Allen v. Milligan, 599 U.S. 1 (2023), decision was "likely to substantially affect or be fully dispositive" of this case. The district court denied the motion, reasoning that "[t]he blow to judicial economy and prejudice to Plaintiffs that would result from granting the moved-for stay cannot be justified by speculation over future Supreme Court deliberations."

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