The Mississippi legislature will be among the first to act under the Supreme Court’s ruling Wednesday that undermined racially drawn political maps, as lawmakers in the state capitol move to redraw elected judicial districts under the high court’s new rules.
On Friday, Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, announced he would call a special session in 21 days to address the state’s judicial maps. The redrawing of those maps had been put on hold pending the Supreme Court’s decision on U.S. House maps in Louisiana.
The court found those House maps unconstitutional on Wednesday, and Mr. Reeves said legislators would be able “to use their constitutionally recognized right to draw these” judicial districts.
The existing judicial district lines had been successfully challenged by a group of Black voters who said they diluted minority voters’ ability to elect a representative of their choice. But the legislature, which has the authority to draw districts for congressional, judicial and local elections, did not act on the judicial maps before they adjourned earlier this year.
Now Democrats in the state fear what will come out of the special session.
“The first chance our leadership gets to start testing the boundaries of Black voting power, they take it — they don’t even pretend otherwise,” said Cheikh Taylor, the chairman of the Mississippi Democratic Party. Mr. Taylor added, “Today’s decision did not change their minds. It gave them permission.”
Emily Cochrane is a national reporter for The Times covering the American South, based in Nashville.
The post Mississippi Will Move Quickly to Redraw Its Judicial District Lines appeared first on New York Times.
