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Executive Summary

Geographic Planning and Demographic Services, LLC is a Louisiana demographic consulting and redistricting firm. Chief Demographer Michael C. Hefner leads the firm. In 2024, the plaintiffs in Callais v. Landry asked Hefner to evaluate Louisiana's new congressional plan, Senate Bill 8 (SB8). The case went before a three-judge federal court. In Maptitude for Redistricting, Hefner built a heat map of the state's African American voting age population. He laid it over the SB8 districts and scored each plan for compactness. The court qualified Hefner as an expert demographer. The majority opinion cited his heat map as evidence of what drove the boundaries of District 6. On April 29, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the district court's judgment and remanded the case, 6-3.

Map of Black voting-age population in Louisiana by Census Block Group

Business Challenge: Showing a Federal Court What Drove the Shape of District 6

In early 2024, the plaintiffs in Callais v. Landry asked Hefner to evaluate the new SB8 congressional plan. He also evaluated two other plans: the plaintiffs' Illustrative Plan 1, and House Bill 1 (HB1), the plan used in the 2022 congressional election. A three-judge panel in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana heard the case.

Hefner had three goals:

• Give the court a clear evaluation of the 2024 plan. Measure it against traditional redistricting criteria: communities of interest, compactness, and preservation of prior core districts
• Find out whether a second majority-minority district could be drawn that still follows traditional redistricting criteria
• Deliver three expert reports on a packed spring schedule

The court needed to see how District 6 was drawn and what drove its shape. When looking at redistricting, Hefner likes to say that "it's the numbers and the geography that tell you the story." His job was to show the panel where Louisiana's African American voting age population actually lives. Then he had to show how the new boundaries related to it.

The timeline was tight. Hefner prepared an initial report in February. A more robust report followed on March 22, and a rebuttal report on April 1. At the same time, he had six active school desegregation cases. He also had several precinct management projects and private client work underway.

The Solution

Loading the Plans and the Census Data: Hefner loaded the district boundaries into Maptitude for Redistricting as shapefiles. He based his calculations on the 2020 Census P.L. 94-171 redistricting file and the 2024 statewide precincts.

Building the Heat Map: Seeing racial data next to other data while working with a plan was central to this analysis. Hefner built a heat map of African American voting age population from the 2020 Census. The colors ran from red at the highest concentrations to purple at the lowest. He then laid the heat map over the SB8 districts. It showed the densest population in New Orleans, then East Baton Rouge, then Shreveport. The rest was spread across the state. He produced every exhibit map, including the heat maps, by exporting map views as PNG image files.

Measuring Compactness: Maptitude for Redistricting computes nine measures of compactness. Hefner chose Polsby-Popper because of what he described at trial as "the rather awkward, strung out CD-6 district boundaries." He added Reock as a second measure in his rebuttal report. Polsby-Popper runs from 0 to 1, where 1 is the most compact. District 6 scored 0.05. The plan averages were 0.14 for HB1, 0.11 for SB8, and 0.23 for the Illustrative Plan. Maptitude for Redistricting quickly provided the compactness scores the analysis needed.

Results & Benefits

Evidence the Court Relied On: The court qualified Hefner as an expert demographer. In its April 30, 2024 opinion, the majority wrote that his "'heat map' is particularly helpful as circumstantial evidence of the motives driving the decisions as to where to draw the boundaries of District 6." It added: "When Mr. Hefner's heat map is superimposed on SB8, the 'story of racial gerrymandering' becomes evident." The opinion also cited his compactness testimony. District 6 had a Polsby-Popper score of 0.05, and SB8 scored lower than HB1 on both the Polsby-Popper and Reock tests.

The Final Ruling: On April 29, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed and remanded the district court's judgment in Louisiana v. Callais by a 6-3 vote. The Court's opinion rested on the State's own stated reasons for drawing District 6.

Three Reports on a Spring Deadline: Hefner delivered his initial, main, and rebuttal reports between February and April 1. He did it while carrying six school desegregation cases and other client work.

(The experience of Geographic Planning and Demographic Services echoes that of other redistricting professionals who rely on Maptitude for Redistricting, from drawing 99 Tennessee House districts on a compressed schedule to testifying as an expert in federal court. In each case, the software's blend of census data, compactness reports, and clear maps turns district analysis into maps and numbers that decision makers and courts can follow.)

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Sources: Callais v. Landry, No. 3:24-cv-00122, Injunction and Reasons for Judgment, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Apr. 30, 2024. Hefner's qualification and his heat map and compactness testimony appear at pages 28 to 30 of the majority opinion; the passages quoted above appear at pages 39 and 40. Hefner's trial testimony: Joint Appendix, Vol. I, No. 24-109, pages 240 to 270. Appeal: Louisiana v. Callais, 608 U.S. ___, Nos. 24-109 and 24-110 (Apr. 29, 2026).