Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti moved to halt progress in the lawsuit by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to block Tennessee’s new congressional map from taking effect, arguing the litigation cannot move forward until the Tennessee Supreme Court decides whether to appoint a three-judge panel to oversee the case.
Citing 2021 legislation requiring any civil litigation challenging the constitutionality of a state statute to be assigned to such a panel, as well as newly passed legislation imposing the same requirement for challenges to redistricting, Skrmetti’s Friday filing will automatically halt progress on the lawsuit until the state Supreme Court makes its decision.
In addition to effectively staying the lawsuit pending such a decision, the filing also previewed how Skrmetti’s office might defend the redistricting if the Tennessee Supreme Court allows the litigation to move forward.
The filing notes that lawmakers recently repealed legislation that previously empowered any citizen of Tennessee to sue the state, and that neither Governor Bill Lee nor the General Assembly waived their immunity in relation to the redistricting effort, leaving neither the NAACP nor its president and plaintiff in the lawsuit, Gloria Sweet-Love, with standing to sue over redistricting.
It also responds to a key claim in the NAACP lawsuit, which argues that Tennessee’s redistricting legislation is unconstitutional because it exceeded the parameters of the proclamation Governor Bill Lee signed to call the General Assembly into a special session.
According to the filing from Skrmetti’s office, the governor’s proclamation was sufficiently broad because it called for “making statutory changes that are necessary to effectuate changes to the composition of Tennessee’s congressional districts,” and in order “to facilitate the 2026 congressional elections,” leaving all of the General Assembly’s actions squarely within the bounds of Lee’s directive.
It also argues there is no urgent need for the court to grant relief to the plaintiffs, as even if they were likely to win, the nearly three months before the August 6 primary election would leave the court sufficient time to consider the arguments and reach a decision.
In addition to the lawsuit filed by the NAACP and Sweet-Love in Tennessee state court, a federal lawsuit was filed last week by the Tennessee Democratic Party and U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) and State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), the two Democrats seeking their nomination to represent Tennessee’s redrawn 9th Congressional District.
While Democrats seek judicial solutions to reverse new Republican-friendly district boundaries, State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) announced his campaign for Tennessee’s redrawn 9th Congressional District immediately after the State Senate passed the legislation.
So far, Taylor has self-funded his campaign with a $1 million contribution.
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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].
Background Photo “NAACP Protest” by NAACP.
