The U.S. Supreme Court, in a brief order Monday, reversed a lower court’s ruling that determined Mississippi lawmakers unlawfully diluted Black voting strength when it redrew the state’s legislative districts.
The Supreme Court’s decision to toss out the ruling in the Mississippi case, along with a similar ruling in North Dakota, is the latest order set off by the justices’ 6-3 decision in Callais last month. Earlier this month, the high court similarly tossed a Voting Rights Act (VRA) ruling against Alabama’s congressional map that had mandated the state have two majority-Black districts. The Callais ruling, along with subsequent orders in Alabama, Mississippi, and North Dakota, has now given states significantly more freedom to redraw congressional and state legislative maps without prioritizing racial outcomes.
Worth noting: today’s order concerns state legislative district maps, not the congressional map targeting Rep. Bennie Thompson, which Gov. Reeves has indicated will be addressed between now and the 2027 elections. The order effectively wipes out the court-ordered remedial legislative maps drawn under VRA Section 2 requirements and leaves Mississippi’s legislature free to keep or redraw those lines on its own terms.
Find us on:
