Louisiana's redistricting fight, an HBCU lawsuit and a new policy playbook

Louisiana's redistricting case heads to a Shreveport hearing

A federal three-judge panel will hear arguments in Shreveport on Oct. 27, 2026 over whether to shut down the voting-rights case that remade Louisiana's congressional map. Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill plans to ask the panel to end the case, known as Callais, arguing that lawmakers' May 29, 2026 redraw of the 6th Congressional District already cured the problem the Supreme Court identified. Two of the three judges, David C. Joseph and Robert R. Summerhays, are based in Lafayette. The hearing won't change anything before the Nov. 3 election.

The case traces back to a dozen voters who identify as non-African American who challenged Louisiana's 2024 congressional map. The Supreme Court struck that map down 6-3 on April 29, 2026, in an opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito. Lawmakers answered with a new map, passed 66-36 in the House and 28-10 in the Senate, built to produce five Republican seats and one Democratic seat instead of the previous four-to-two split. Under that map, the Black population of the 6th District fell from 53% to 25%, and Rep. Cleo Fields opted not to seek another term.

Louisiana is about one-third Black statewide, but the map's remaining majority-Black district, the 2nd, has a Black share of registered voters of sixty percent, compared with 12% in the neighboring, Scalise-held 1st District. The Callais plaintiffs, including lead plaintiff Phillip Callais, who was moved from the 6th District into the 2nd under the new map, want the case kept open so the panel can also decide whether the 2nd District should be redrawn, and whether a precinct shift in Brusly was designed to protect its Black majority. Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, who represents the 2nd District, said backers of such a move "will never stop" seeking a "return of Jim Crow." Power Coalition leader Ashley Shelton has warned that Republicans could face consequences they don't expect if the plaintiffs succeed. If the panel doesn't dismiss the case on Oct. 27, the parties have until Dec. 15, 2026 to submit a plan for how the litigation proceeds.

Missouri sued over HBCU funding gap

Current and former students of Lincoln University, Missouri's HBCU in Jefferson City, filed a lawsuit against the state on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in the federal district court covering western Missouri. They argue Missouri violated the Morrill Act of 1890, a law that requires states to match federal funding for land-grant HBCUs dollar for dollar. Citing federal education data, the suit says Missouri underfunded Lincoln University by $361,569,760 across fiscal years 1987 through 2020, and asks the court to require the state to put nearly $549 million into a fund covering campus repairs and other needs.

Missouri isn't alone: federal data cited in the case shows Tennessee owes Tennessee State University $2.1 billion under the same kind of shortfall, and 1890 Project lead counsel Don Calloway puts the combined underfunding across all affected HBCU land-grant schools at roughly $12.6 billion. A 2025 Trump administration executive order urged states to provide the matching funds the law requires, and a 2023 review under the Biden administration had already found Missouri among the states withholding money owed to its HBCU. Missouri did add funding for Lincoln in 2022, but the lawsuit says it still wasn't enough. Gov. Mike Kehoe, named as a defendant, declined to comment through his office; Lincoln University itself isn't a defendant and also declined to comment. Calloway said the university was built by Black soldiers who put in their own pay, and has served the state for 160 years.

CBC Foundation updates its policy playbook

The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation teams up with the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies on a continuing project, the 'Forward Together' Black Policy Playbook, which lays out seven policy areas for Black advancement. On Sept. 17, 2026, the two organizations released a new addendum built with the ACLU, the Legal Defense Fund, the Brennan Center for Justice, Common Cause and Fair Vote.

That addendum points to fresh threats against voting access, together with the impact of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as reasons the playbook's equity work must keep adapting, a dynamic playing out in the Louisiana redistricting fight above. The Joint Center, founded in 1970, calls itself, according to its website, "America's Black think tank." The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation says it has spent 50 years providing thought leadership on issues that matter to Black communities.

Quick answers

Will the Oct. 27 hearing change anything before Nov. 3?

No. The hearing in Shreveport won't affect the Nov. 3, 2026 election. If the case isn't dismissed, both sides must submit a plan for next steps by Dec. 15, 2026.

How much does the Lincoln University lawsuit seek from Missouri?

Plaintiffs want a federal court to make Missouri put nearly $549 million into a fund for campus repairs and other needs.

What's new in the Black Policy Playbook?

A Sept. 17, 2026 addendum says new threats to voting access and the effects of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act mean the equity work has to keep evolving.