Judge rules against effort to create majority-Black DeSoto County districts
U.S. District Judge Glen H. Davidson ruled Wednesday in Harris v. Plaintiffs in DeSoto County case did not provide sufficient evidence That DeSoto County district maps were drawn to deliberately weaken Black voting power.
“Plaintiffs fail to prove their allegations of vote dilution under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, and the verdict must be awarded to defendants,” Davidson wrote in the ruling for DeSoto County.
Davidson’s decision came after hearing arguments in the case in March.
Federal lawsuit filed in September 2024 alleged the 2022 DeSoto County election map diluted the Black vote strength at the district office elections. The plaintiffs demanded a new reapportionment plan and special elections for supervisory and educational boards and election commission positions, as well as police and justice court judge positions.
decision It follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Louisiana v. Callias. The decision weakened the federal Voting Rights Act’s protections against racial redistricting.
The decision triggered protests and political battles over the future of redistricting and voting rights. country.
ACLU of Mississippi released a report expression I don’t call the decision in the DeSoto County case “deeply disappointing.”
“The (U.S. Supreme Court’s) Callais opinion purports to adhere to the text of the Voting Rights Act and merely updates the test for proving vote dilution,” the statement said. “In effect, the Supreme Court is instructing federal courts to close their eyes and ignore the clear consequences of discriminatory maps.”
Mike Hurst, chairman of the state Republican Party, represented DeSoto County in the case. Hurst he told MPB The lawsuit was nothing more than this: “Democrats are angry that they can’t win the election in DeSoto County because it is a Republican county.”
Located just south of Memphis in northwest Mississippi, DeSoto County has been one of the fastest-growing counties in the state for years. DeSoto’s Black population is also growing and now represents more than 30% of the total population of 190,000.
Of the 25 county offices identified by the map, none are held by a Black person. However, DeSoto County has a countywide elected Black sheriff, Democratic Black state legislators elected from majority-Black districts, and a Black Republican House member elected from a majority-white district. The case was not directed at legislative districts.
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This story was first published by . Mississippi Today Distributed through partnership with The Associated Press.
