A Nashville resident is seeking an expedited ruling by the Tennessee Supreme Court after the state challenged a three-judge panel decision that found state Senate redistricting maps unconstitutional.
Simultaneously, a West Tennessee resident is appealing the judicial panel’s finding that the House redistricting plan approved in early 2022 withstood constitutional muster. The challenge by Trenton resident Gary Wygant also seeks an expedited ruling by the state’s highest court.
Attorneys for Francie Hunt, a Nashville resident and executive director of Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood, filed a request Tuesday asking the court to move quickly in her case against the Senate redistricting map. Otherwise, if the appeal proceeds on its regular schedule Tennessee voters will vote again in Senate districts the trial court has found twice to violate the Tennessee Constitution, according to the filing.
The state Attorney General’s main argument in the challenge of the judicial panel’s ruling is that Hunt doesn’t have standing to sue to overturn the Senate redistricting maps, which contain non-consecutive numbered Senate districts 17, 19, 20, and 21 in Davidson County, a violation of the state Constitution. Counties with multiple Senate districts are required to be consecutively numbered so the entire delegation or majority of the delegation can’t be replaced in one fell swoop.
Hunt resides in District 17, which is represented by Sen. Mark Pody, R-Lebanon.
There's not really any dispute about whether the maps comply with the Constitution. They don’t.Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville
Meanwhile, Wygant filed a notice of appeal Nov. 29 and requested an expedited decision Dec. 1. In addition, he asked the court to separate the House and Senate cases “to avoid subjecting” voters to a second election in Senate districts found to be unconstitutional. Wygant challenged the House map, claiming it split 30 counties, more than necessary to reapportion 99 House districts.
Democrats contend controlling Republicans, who hold supermajorities in the House and Senate, gerrymandered the districts to keep control.
The three-judge panel ruled against Wygant and found the House redistricting maps constitutional but determined the Senate maps to be unconstitutional and ordered the Senate to draw new maps by Jan. 31.
“There’s not really any dispute about whether the maps comply with the Constitution. They don’t,” state Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, said Tuesday. “We should pass maps that comply with the Constitution rather than seek to not be subject to it. The state shouldn’t be in the business of finding immunity from constitutional violations for itself.”
Gov. Bill Lee signed the Senate and House maps into law on Feb. 6, 2022, two months before the April 7 qualifying deadline for Senate candidates. On April 6, the trial court enjoined the Senate map and extended the candidate qualifying deadline to May 5, while giving the Legislature 15 days to approve a remedial Senate map.
The state sought an extraordinary appeal the following day when a spokesperson said, “While Lt. Gov. McNally remains confident the appeal will be successful, the Senate will work on an alternative map so that it can be passed in the allotted time frame, if it becomes necessary.”
At trial a year later, an expert testified that the constitutional problems with the Senate map could be “cured” by changing fewer than five Senate districts. The plaintiffs’ court filing contends the General Assembly can work on changes to a “remedial map” in this December and January so it can be enacted by early February.
This story was originally published by the Tennessee Lookout.
