On behalf of a litigant from Memphis, the Tennessee State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) on Thursday sued Tennessee over its new congressional maps, which have been signed by Governor Bill Lee, and will likely see U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09), Tennessee’s last Democratic representative in the U.S. House, lose his seat to a Republican.
In a press release announcing the lawsuit, NAACP attorney Kristen Clarke accused the Tennessee General Assembly and Lee of passing “a direct attack” aimed at dismantling “majority-black districts.” Clarke stated, “democracy without black representation is not a democracy.”
The lawsuit hinges on how Tennessee Code Annotated (TCA) 2-16-102 was written prior to the recent special session, as the law specifically forbade changing congressional districts “between apportionments,” with redistricting only allowed once per decade and most recently performed after the 2020 census.
The General Assembly changed TCA 2-16-102 to specifically remove the language requiring redistricting to be completed only once per decade, as they were explicitly called into a special session by Lee following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Louisiana v. Calais, which made it more difficult to draw congressional districts based on race.
According to the lawsuit, the lawmakers exceeded the breadth of the special session by repealing the once-per-decade language in the law, because it was not part of Lee’s proclamation calling them back into session.
As a result, the lawsuit alleges the General Assembly engaged in unconstitutional lawmaking, “by entering on legislative business for which they were not specifically called together.”
If their changes are deemed invalid, the NAACP argues that the new maps must be declared illegal because the General Assembly lacked the authority to redraw them after the latest maps were redrawn following the 2020 census.
The lawsuit was filed in the Chancery Court of Tennessee in Davidson County.
Since the lawsuit was filed, Cohen and his Democratic challenger, State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), have also sued in federal court to block the new districts.
While the legal challenge against Tennessee’s new congressional maps plays out, one Republican has already thrown his name in the race for the redrawn district.
State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) announced his candidacy on Thursday afternoon and authorized the transfer of $1 million of his personal wealth to his campaign, and held his first congressional campaign event in Savannah, Tennessee.
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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.
This is interesting, I am waiting to hear their arguments. The district in question is the one represented by Steven Cohen, a Caucasian male who has been in office 20 years. The Republican candidate is a black female. Jim Crow laws, nonsense. What this boils down to is “Activism is a way for useless people to feel important”.
The Chancery Court of Davidson County is a joke. Highly liberal so the decision of the court is known before the case even starts. Hopefully its decision will quickly be overturned by the Appeals Court or the Tennessee Supreme Court.