SCOTUS Takes Another Chop at the 1965 Voting Rights Act by Refusing Mississippi Case

Brian Beihl

The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Feb. 27, 2023

The U.S. Supreme Court took another chop out of the 1965 Voting Rights Act by refusing a Mississippi case challenging racially gerrymandered Congressional district redistricting maps.

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:
Democracy Docket – Mississippi Congressional Redistricting Challenge Buck v. Reeves
Mississippi Free Press – Mississippi Racial Gerrymandering Case Dismissed in U.S. Supreme Court
Brennan Center for Justice – Shelby County v. Holder

USA Facts – Changes in Mississippi’s Population

Groups Taking Action:

NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Mississippi Center for Justice,  ACLU of Mississippi


Today’s Script:  (Variations occur with audio due to editing for time)

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

February 21st, the U.S. Supreme Court took another chop at the 1965 Voting Rights Act by refusing to hear a 2001 Mississippi gerrymandering case called Buck v. Reeves.

The Reeves case goes back over 20 years, when a federal panel rejected racially gerrymandered maps drawn after the 2000 U.S. Census. Democracy Docket reports that the court ordered the State of Mississippi to create a map with one of its four Congressional districts a majority-minority district to reflect its 36% Black population. It further ordered the state to pre-clear future maps with the U.S. Justice Department, a penalty for states with a history of votersuppression.

In the two decades since, Mississippi’s Black & Hispanic population has grown to over 41% of the population, entitling it to more representation. In 2011 a court-drawn map was ordered until Mississippi could draw fair ones. But in 2021, state Republicans successfully argued the 2011 order was no longer valid, and a more conservative court vacated it. Democrats appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, citing a violation of Article 5 of the Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court refused to hear the case.

The decision allows a map which “packs” Black voters into one district, keeping adjoining districts more White. And 2018’s Shelby v. Holder decision released Mississippi from having to clear its future gerrymandering with the federal government.

We have more details at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.