SCOTUS lets redistricting ruling take effect immediately, sparking angry exchange

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed last week's landmark decision striking down Louisiana's congressional map to take effect immediately, as GOP state officials scramble to redraw the map before this year's elections — drawing a sharp back-and-forth between two justices. The court ruled 6-3 in Louisiana v. Callais that the state's U.S. House map — which currently includes two majority-Black districts held by Democrats — is unconstitutional. Louisiana officials reacted by quickly suspending this month's House primaries and moving to draw a new map. The voters who initially challenged Louisiana's map asked the justices last week to speed up the usual 32-day period between when a ruling is announced and when the Supreme Court clerk formally passes the decision down to a lower court. They wrote that "time is … of the essence" with this year's elections approaching quickly, and said the issue needs to be returned to the district court so it can "oversee an orderly process" to fix Louisiana's maps. On Monday, the high court granted that request, writing that the court's typical 32-day wait period is "subject to adjustment" by the justices. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, one of the court's three liberals, assailed Monday's decision, calling it "unwarranted and unwise" and suggesting the court had effectively greenlit Louisiana's attempts to call off its primaries and push through a new map. …