Current:Home > Contact-usLawsuit says Tennessee’s US House and state Senate maps discriminate against communities of color-LoTradeCoin
Lawsuit says Tennessee’s US House and state Senate maps discriminate against communities of color
View Date:2025-01-14 05:37:34
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee is facing its first court challenge over a congressional redistricting map that carved up Democratic-leaning Nashville to help Republicans flip a seat in last year’s elections, a move that the plaintiffs say has unconstitutionally diluted the power of Black voters and other communities of color.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Nashville says the U.S. House maps and those for the state Senate amount to unconstitutional racial gerrymandering under the 14th and 15th amendments. The plaintiffs include the Tennessee State Conference of the NAACP, the African American Clergy Collective of Tennessee, the Equity Alliance, the League of Women Voters of Tennessee and several Tennessee voters, including former state Sen. Brenda Gilmore.
By splintering Nashville into three Republican-majority districts that stretch into rural counties, Tennessee’s congressional maps sparked significant pushback and threats of litigation from Democrats after Republicans drew them up early last year.
With the new lines in play, former Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper of Nashville declined to seek reelection, saying he couldn’t win any of the three new seats drawn to split the city during the once-a-decade redistricting process. The Republican advantage held true, as Rep. John Rose won reelection by about 33 percentage points, Rep. Mark Green won another term by 22 points, and Rep. Andy Ogles won his first term by 13 points in the district vacated by Cooper.
The strategy shifted Tennessee to eight Republicans in the U.S. House, with just one Democrat left in Memphis Rep. Steve Cohen.
“The Tennessee Legislature split Nashville into three districts and splintered my neighborhoods,” said Gilmore, a former Democratic state senator who is Black. “And most harmful of all, the redistricting plan attacked African American voters, both diluting our voices, our vote and people who look like me, and other people of color, from electing candidates of our choice.”
Additionally, the lawsuit challenges state Senate District 31 in majority-Black Shelby County, including part of Memphis. It’s represented by Republican Sen. Brent Taylor.
The new lawsuit in Tennessee comes as the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up a redistricting challenge over South Carolina’s congressional lines similarly on 14th and 15th amendment claims. In that case, a panel of federal judges previously ruled that a congressional district there was intentionally redrawn to split Black neighborhoods to dilute their voting power.
“The South Carolina case is absolutely relevant to our case because the claims in this case and that case are identical. They’re very similar,” said Pooja Chaudhuri, an attorney with The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, one of the legal groups that helped bring the lawsuit.
Mitchell Brown of the Lawyers’ Committee said the choice not to file the Tennessee lawsuit earlier helped in part because the attorneys were able to see the results of 2022 elections, during which Black and brown voters’ candidates of choice lost by big margins. That includes Odessa Kelly, a Black Democrat defeated by Rep. Green in one congressional race.
Republican legislative leaders in Tennessee have said population shifts elsewhere in the growing state and significant growth in and around Nashville justified dividing the city up. They have contended that they met the legal requirements needed to withstand any lawsuits.
The lawsuit also accuses Republican lawmakers of passing the maps through a “opaque, inadequate, and rushed process designed to forestall public scrutiny, minimize backlash, and stifle any meaningful debate or dissent.”
Meanwhile, Tennessee’s state legislative maps are still facing another lawsuit on state constitutional grounds. A ruling could be handed down sometime soon.
Tennessee’s previous congressional map before the 2022 redistricting process kept Nashville together in one seat, extending into two additional counties and totaling about a 24% Black population. That means that Nashville likely doesn’t have enough minority voters to make up a district’s majority — a key number to hit for certain protections under the Voting Rights Act. However, the lawsuit instead focuses on other rights under the U.S. Constitution.
In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that partisan gerrymandering of congressional and legislative districts is none of its business, limiting those claims to be decided in state courts under their own constitutions and laws.
Republicans in South Carolina’s case, in part, said they were driven by political interests, not race, in drawing their maps.
veryGood! (78185)
Related
- Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had a stroke earlier this month, is expected to make full recovery
- Town creates public art ordinance after free speech debate over doughnut mural
- Mother-Daughter Duo Arrested After Allegedly Giving Illegal Butt Injections in Texas
- Shake Shack appears to throw shade at Chick-fil-A with April chicken sandwich promotion
- Georgia House Democrats shift toward new leaders after limited election gains
- USWNT wins SheBelieves Cup after penalty shootout vs. Canada
- Off-duty officer charged with murder after shooting man in South Carolina parking lot, agents say
- Atlanta family raises money, seeks justice after innocent bystander dies in police pursuit
- Five best fits for Alex Bregman: Will Astros homegrown star leave as free agent?
- Drake Bell “Still Reeling” After Detailing Abuse in Quiet on Set Docuseries
Ranking
- NBA players express concern for ex-player Kyle Singler after social media post
- When Will Paris Hilton Share Photos of Baby Girl London? She Says…
- Tara VanDerveer retires as Stanford women’s hoops coach after setting NCAA wins record this year
- Catholic Church blasts gender-affirming surgery and maternal surrogacy as affronts to human dignity
- Taylor Swift touches down in Kansas City as Chiefs take on Denver Broncos
- Louisiana’s transgender ‘bathroom bill’ clears first hurdle
- Seatbelt violation ends with Black man dead on Chicago street after cops fired nearly 100 bullets
- 2024 NBA mock draft post-March Madness: Donovan Clingan, Zach Edey climb board
Recommendation
-
Jason Kelce Offers Up NSFW Explanation for Why Men Have Beards
-
Gwen Stefani addresses Blake Shelton divorce rumors, working with No Doubt after motherhood
-
Arizona Supreme Court rules abortion ban from 1864 can be enforced
-
Presumed remains of missing teen found in Utah after accused killer reportedly leads authorities to burial site
-
MVSU football player killed, driver injured in crash after police chase
-
Coast Guard resumes search for missing man Jeffrey Kale after boat was found off NC coast
-
South Carolina-Iowa championship game draws in nearly 19 million viewers, breaking rating records
-
Devin Booker Responds to Rumor He Wears a Hairpiece