Tennessee Supreme Court Weighs New Congressional Map Ahead of Midterms

NASHVILLE—The Tennessee Supreme Court heard oral arguments on May 21 over whether it should block the use of a new, Republican-leaning U.S. congressional map before the state’s midterms.
The case was brought by a series of groups, including the Tennessee State Conference of the NAACP and Shelby County Voters Alliance, after the map passed the Republican-led Tennessee General Assembly and was signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee on May 7.
The court’s decision could impact the midterms, as the new law split up the state’s only Democratic stronghold in Memphis into three Republican-leaning districts.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs urged a three-judge panel on Thursday to block the newly passed map, arguing the process by which it was produced was unconstitutional and violated Tennessee Code § 2-16-102, a state statute that prohibits congressional districts from being changed between federal censuses, which are held every ten years….