Supreme Court shuts down Missouri GOP-gerrymandered map for third time

Despite two Supreme Court rulings to the contrary, a lower court allowed Missouri Republicans to use a gerrymandered map for the November election.WASHINGTON (CN) — Wading into the political fray a third time, the Supreme Court on Friday barred the use of Missouri’s Republican-friendly congressional map in the midterm election.The justices chastised an appeals court for forcing them to intervene in the litigation again, after the Eighth Circuit ruled that the newly drawn maps could be used for the upcoming election after votes had already been cast.“Given this court’s two prior orders in this litigation, our conclusion that this was error should come as no surprise,” the court wrote in a per curiam opinion.Organizers who proposed a statewide referendum before the redrawn maps could be used filed an emergency application late Tuesday night seeking the justices’ intervention. They asked to nix the Eighth Circuit ruling that reinstated the GOP-friendly map despite two Supreme Court rulings to the contrary.“This court’s stays are not invitations for a lower court to repackage the same relief and try again,” the organizers wrote. “Nor does the law permit the unprecedented disruption the Eighth Circuit injects here — particularly not on such a faulty basis. With voting already underway, the court should grant this application before that becomes irreversible.”Led by Richard von Glahn, the organizers asked the justices to clarify whether the high court’s previous ruling prohibited the Eighth Circuit’s order. If not, they said the Supreme Court should step in to block the appellate ruling to prevent further election chaos.Even without the Supreme Court’s two prior rulings, the justices reprimanded the Eighth Circuit for disrupting Missouri’s election process.“At this late date, ordering reversion to the 2025 map in the midst of an ongoing election would usher in electoral chaos,” the court wrote.Absentee voting under the 2022 congressional map began Tuesday. And if the Eighth Circuit ruling was allowed to remain in place, the organizers said it wasn’t clear what would happen to voters who already cast their ballots.“At best, their already cast votes would get thrown out and they would be forced to cast another ballot in the November general election under new district lines,” the organizers wrote. “At worst, those voters will be precluded from voting at all in the general election.”Following President Donald Trump’s call for nationwide redistricting to protect Republican majorities in Congress, Missouri’s legislature redrew new maps giving the GOP seven of the state’s eight seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.Redistricting opponents submitted over 300,000 petition signatures to put the map to a vote. But Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins rejected them, asserting the Missouri Constitution doesn’t allow referendum petitions on congressional redistricting. He successfully defended his decision in a lower court but lost in front of the state’s highest court.The Missouri Supreme Court said the referendum petition effectively suspended the new districts, retroactive to this past December, pending voter approval. Although the new districts were used in the August primary, Missouri’s top court said the previous districts enacted after the 2020 census must be used in the general election.State officials filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court just days before the deadline to make changes to the November ballot. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a Trump appointee, denied emergency relief this month, allowing the Missouri Supreme Court ruling to stand.But a lower court quickly reinstated the GOP maps, leading to a second emergency application before the Supreme Court. The full court granted the appeal, blocking the use of the newly redrawn maps for the November election.The Eighth Circuit reinstated the contested maps by converting the temporary injunction that was stayed by the Supreme Court into a permanent injunction.The organizers said the permanent injunction was barred by the Supreme Court’s previous ruling, which held the original temporary injunction was stayed until the deposition of an appeal in the Eighth Circuit and deposition of a certiorari petition before the Supreme Court.In their emergency application, they asked the justices to clarify the previous ruling.The justices short but concise opinion appeared aimed at shutting down any further litigation on the issue prior to the election.“The district court and court of appeals should not enjoin or otherwise prohibit the use of the 2022 map in the 2026 congressional election in Missouri,” the Supreme Court wrote. “And the district court and court of appeals should not order or otherwise require Missouri to use the 2025 map in the 2026 congressional election in Missouri.”Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads