Mississippi Supreme Court map violates Voting Rights Act, judge rules
Source: ABC News/AP
August 19, 2025, 5:32 PM
JACKSON, Miss. -- A federal judge has ordered Mississippi to redraw its Supreme Court electoral map, after finding the map dilutes the power of Black voters. U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock ruled the map, which was enacted in 1987, violates the Voting Rights Act and cannot be used in future elections.
The Mississippi branch of the American Civil Liberties Union helped litigate the lawsuit, arguing the map cut Mississippi's Delta region — a historically Black area — in half.
“This win corrects a historic injustice," said Ari Savitzky, a senior staff attorney at the ACLU Voting Rights Project. "All Mississippians will benefit from fair district lines that give Black voters an equal voice — and new generations of Black leaders an equal chance to help shape the state’s future by serving on the state’s highest court.”
The lawsuit, which was filed on April 25, 2022, argued the map diminished the Black vote in the Central District.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/mississippi-supreme-court-map-violates-voting-rights-act-124793025
= new reply since forum marked as read
https://courts.ms.gov/appellatecourts/sc/scdistricts.php
Supreme Court District 1
Counties: Bolivar, Claiborne, Copiah, Hinds, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Jefferson, Kemper, Lauderdale, Leake, Madison, Neshoba, Newton, Noxubee, Rankin, Scott, Sharkey, Sunflower, Warren, Washington, Yazoo
Supreme Court District 2
Counties: Adams, Amite, Clarke, Covington, Forrest, Franklin, George, Greene, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Lamar, Lawrence, Lincoln, Marion, Pearl River, Perry, Pike, Simpson, Smith, Stone, Walthall, Wayne, Wilkinson
Supreme Court District 3
Counties: Alcorn, Attala, Benton, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Clay, Coahoma, Desoto, Grenada, Itawamba, Lafayette, Lee, Leflore, Lowndes, Marshall, Monroe, Montgomery, Oktibbeha, Panola, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Quitman, Tallahatchie, Tate, Tippah, Tishomingo, Tunica, Union, Webster, Winston, Yalobusha
It looks as if their Supreme Court is set up similar to typical lower appellate courts.
(I know another odd example is the fact that NY state doesn't call their highest court a "Supreme Court" but the "Court of Appeals" )
