A panel of federal judges last week dismissed the lawsuit brought by the Tennessee State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which challenged Tennessee’s recently redrawn congressional maps based on claims that Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly exploited a rushed process to conceal their alleged use of racial census data in order to diminish the weight of black voters in Memphis.
The three judges assigned to the case noted in their dismissal order, which was made publicly available on Monday, that the plaintiffs “alleged that the legislature engaged in a racist conspiracy and public coverup to intentionally dilute the Black vote in Tennessee.”
Dismissing the case, the panel wrote of the plaintiffs’ claims, “On the face of this complaint, such accusations are implausible. Politics is an obvious alternative explanation.”
The panel included two jurists appointed by President Donald Trump, U.S. Circuit Judge John B. Nalbandian and Chief U.S. District Judge William Campbell, as well as U.S. District Judge Greg Stivers, appointed by former President Barack Obama.
Tennessee officials argued that the Tennessee General Assembly drew its congressional map based on a desire to give Republicans an electoral advantage in Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District, which has included only Shelby County and Memphis for decades, and the constituency has not been won by a Republican in over 50 years.
Similar arguments have now prevailed in all five lawsuits challenging Tennessee’s redistricting.
The first lawsuit dismissed was the state-level challenge filed by the NAACP, which a 27-page order dismissed in May. The next to be dismissed was the lawsuit filed by U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-9) and State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), the Democrats’ candidate for the 9th Congressional District, who were among the plaintiffs who dropped their lawsuit in June.
Pamela Moses, the independent congressional candidate, was next to see her lawsuit dismissed on September 25. Moses has since appealed the decision.
Before the October 8 dismissal of the federal NAACP lawsuit, the most recent dismissal was the Americans for Civil Liberties Union-backed litigation by four Memphis residents. The court entered its dismissal order on October 1.
Legal experts previously predicted challenges to Tennessee’s new congressional map would end in failure for the plaintiffs.
Tea Party Nation founder and former prosecutor Judson Phillips argued in a May appearance on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show that gerrymandering was included in the U.S. Constitution, and called the “outrage” over Tennessee’s new map “selective.”
At the time, Phillips predicted one of the challenges could result in the map being enjoined by a “crazy federal judge,” but also predicted the plaintiffs would lose an appeal.
State Representative Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood) also defended the law’s constitutionality and America’s history of gerrymandering, which he said stretches back to Patrick Henry in 1788.
“We adopted a map that is strictly based on partisan considerations, and it’s 100 percent constitutional,” said Bulso. “It’s 100 percent compliant with Section Two of the Voting Rights Act.”
Retired attorney and Misrule of Law blogger Mark Pulliam also predicted that Tennessee and other states would successfully redraw their maps following the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Louisiana v. Callais, which found that race could not be a key factor when drawing congressional districts.
“It is receiving a lot of hysterical criticism from the left because it is so important,” said Pulliam in May. “And when they squeal that loud, it’s because it’s hurting.”
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Tom Pappert is a 2025 recipient of the Dao Prize and the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star. He also reports for the Star News Network. Follow Tom on X. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “NAACP Protest” by NAACP.
