April 17, 2025 Story by: Publisher
The Mississippi Legislature’s newly redrawn Mississippi Senate District map does not follow court orders to strengthen voting power for Black Mississippians in DeSoto County, a unanimous three-judge panel ruled on Tuesday.
The Legislature has seven days to propose a new Senate district map, the judges said. The panel included U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi’s Northern Division judges Sul Ozerden and Daniel Jordan, along with U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Judge Leslie Southwick. Republican President George W. Bush appointed all three judges.
“We have considered DeSoto County’s arguments but decline to address them because they would not alter this result. Nonetheless, when making a final decision about proper districts for this area, we may need to decide the relevance of traditional redistricting principles when imposing a remedy for a Section 2 violation,” the judges said in the April 15 decision.
The Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP filed a lawsuit in 2022 against the Mississippi Board of Election Commissioners, Gov. Tate Reeves, Attorney General Lynn Fitch and Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson, claiming that the legislative voting maps “illegally dilute the voting strength of Black Mississippians.”
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi’s Northern Division agreed with the NAACP in a 2024 decision and ordered the Legislature to redraw its districting maps to create more Black-majority districts to give Black voters equal participation in the political process.
Joint Resolution 202 revises the composition of Mississippi Senate districts 1, 2, 10, 11, 19, 34, 41, 42, 44 and 45 to create at least two more Black-majority Senate districts to follow the court’s orders.(Photo courtesy of: Heather Harrison)
The judges ruled that the Legislature needs to create more Black-majority Senate districts around DeSoto County in North Mississippi; around the city of Hattiesburg in South Mississippi; and more Black-majority House districts in Chickasaw and Monroe counties.
Sen. Dean Kirby, R-Mississippi, worked on the Senate’s redistricting plan. Before the legislative session ended earlier in April, this reporter asked him on March 12 what the Legislature would do if the judges rejected lawmakers’ redistricting plans.
“Then they can draw up a plan for us,” Kirby told the Mississippi Free Press on March 12.
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law said it agreed with the judges’ decision in a Wednesday press release and hopes a new map will give Black voters equal participation in the political process.
“Our goal in this case is to achieve fair representation for Black people in Mississippi. Today’s ruling striking down the State’s legislative map for DeSoto County takes an important step toward that goal. The judges gave the State another chance to get its map right. We will carefully review the State’s new map to ensure that it enables Black voters to participate fully in the political process and to elect candidates of their choice,” Jennifer Nwachukwu, senior counsel from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law’s Voting Rights Project, said in an April 16 press release.
During this year’s legislative session, lawmakers approved Joint Resolution 1, altering the district lines of Mississippi House districts 16, 22, 36, 39 and 41 to create at least one more Black-majority House district in compliance with the federal court’s orders. Lawmakers also approved Joint Resolution 202, revising the composition of Mississippi Senate districts 1, 2, 10, 11, 19, 34, 41, 42, 44 and 45 to create at least two more Black-majority Senate districts. Districts 1, 11 and 19 are in DeSoto County.
Kirby sponsored J.R. 202. The Legislature’s attorneys at Butler Snow law firm send the Senate’s maps to “mapping experts,” but they cannot tell the Legislature who the professionals are, he told the Mississippi Free Press on March 12.
The Senate voted to approve its redistricting plan, J.R. 202, by a 33-16 vote on Feb. 26, and the House passed it by a 67-51 vote on March 5. The House passed its redistricting proposal, J.R. 1, by a 81-33 vote on Feb. 6, and the Senate approved it with a 30-12 vote on March 5.
The three-judge panel approved the Mississippi House’s redrawn district map and will allow it to become law. The judges’ decision said the redrawn House districts 16 and 22 align with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, and noted the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP, a plaintiff in the case, agrees with the redrawn House map for the Hattiesburg area.
“The Court rightly rejected the proposed DeSoto County senate districts. The Mississippi Legislature’s attempt to skirt the law would have actually diminished Black voting power in the northwest corner of the state,” Jarvis Dortch, the executive director of the ACLU of Mississippi, said in a statement on Wednesday afternoon.
Source: Mississippi Free Press
