Lost in the political haze surrounding Texas’ redistricting firestorm, another story that recently made national headlines could ultimately impact the Mill City.

Late last week, the United State Supreme Court indicated it will take a look at a Louisiana redistricting case that centers on majority-minority Congressional districts. If the Court deems them not compliant with federal law, the City of Lowell may have to go back to the drawing board over its own majority-minority districts.

“The Supreme Court has asked the parties to file supplemental briefs to address whether Louisiana’s intentional creation of a second majority-minority congressional district violates the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution,” City Solicitor Corey Williams told InsideLowell when asked about potential impact to the Mill City. “Our Consent Decree references Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, along with the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, so any future decision of the Court will have to be examined in conjunction with the Consent Decree to ensure that Lowell’s districts are compliant with federal law and the U.S. Constitution.”

Majority-minority districts are those drawn in a manner assuring racial minorities make up at least half of the population.

The practice came about as part of the 1965 Voting Right Act, which prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on August 6, 1965, to prohibit discriminatory practices including drawing district lines in a manner that would prevent minority voters from gaining office.

The Voting Rights Act was central to the lawsuit and consent decree that forced Lowell to change it’s municipal election system in 2019.

Huot v. City of Lowell was filed in 2017, with both sides reaching a settlement two years later establishing the system that’s been in place since the 2021 municipal election. Attorneys representing the city at the time pushed for a settlement, arguing defeat was almost certain in federal court and that hefty damages would be attached.

The case ultimately resulted in Lowell’s system of government changing from one where all City Council and School Committee members were elected on a citywide basis, to a hybrid system where a limited number of seats were still elected on an At-Large (citywide) basis, but the majority of seats featured District Representatives.

In addition, two of the eight city council districts (District 6 & 7) and one school committee district (District 4) had their lines drawn to create majority-minority seats as part of the consent decree.

However, the landscape seems to be changing since the 2019 settlement.

In June of 2023 the U.S. Supreme Court also shot down Affirmative Action in the college admissions process. Just one month earlier, a Federal judge had ruled in May of 2023 that the City of Boston “likely considered race too heavily” in redrawing its districts, leading to a settlement later that year.

Redistricting battles have also popped up in other parts of the country, including the aforementioned case in Louisiana, along with actions in Texas and South Carolina.

“The District Court ruling regarding Boston’s proposed districts in 2023 likely will not have any impact on Lowell’s districts,” said Williams. “The Boston ruling was based on a different evidentiary record, compared to Lowell’s decision to enter into a Consent Decree. With that said, it’s still far too early to speculate what view the Court will take on the issue, and all that can be meaningfully gleaned at this point is that some of the justices want the issue to be more fully briefed so they can consider the issue thoroughly.”

Needless to say, should the Supreme Court decide to take up the case and rule against the constitutionality of majority-minority districts, be prepared for upheaval to Lowell’s current districts maps and an election system that just a month from now will enter only its third cycle.