The lawsuit, filed in a U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, challenges aspects of the congressional and state Senate redistricting boundaries signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee in February 2022, which the plaintiffs argue unfairly fractured the power of Black voters and other minority voters in the Nashville and Memphis areas.
The Tennessee attorney general’s office, which represents the state in lawsuits, said in a statement Wednesday evening that the complaint had not yet been formally reviewed. “This destroyed a previously functioning crossover district … that had reliably elected voters of color’s candidates of choice for nearly two decades,” the filing says in reference to the 5th Congressional District’s old boundaries. “It also subordinated traditional redistricting — such as core retention, maintaining communities of interest and political subdivisions whole, and compactness — to race.
Carrie Archie Russell, a principal senior lecturer at Vanderbilt University, emphasized the impact the state legislature’s supermajority has had on the maps.“When you have a supermajority, there is no incentive to cooperate or to negotiate with the other side. You don’t have to … and in situations like that, our best hope to protect [the] civil rights and liberties of citizens is the court system to exercise its ability to check the state legislature,” she told The Washington Post.
Law Law Latest News, Law Law Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: WashTimes - 🏆 235. / 63 Read more »