密西西比州DeSoto县的共和党前州长候选人罗伯特·福斯特等原告起诉，要求推翻州议会为州司法职位划定的以黑人为多数的选区[1]。联邦地区法官Sharion Aycock于周四驳回了原告要求在11月选举前改变区划线的请求[1]。Aycock援引最高法院先例，指出下级法院不应在接近选举日期时改变区划线[1]。
原告声称州议会的多数黑人选区划分违反《投票权法》[1]。该诉讼基于美国最高法院5月份在路易斯安那州诉卡莱斯案中的裁决[1]。DeSoto县增设了一名巡回法官和一名衡平法法官职位，两个职位均须从多数黑人选区选举[1]。被告方为密西西比州州长Tate Reeves、国务卿Michael Watson和司法部长Lynn Fitch[1]。
A federal judge has rejected an attempt to overturn majority-Black judicial districts in DeSoto County, Mississippi before the November election. U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock ruled Thursday that redrawing district lines so close to Election Day would violate Supreme Court precedent. [1]
The lawsuit, filed by Republican former gubernatorial candidate Robert Foster and others, challenged the state legislature's creation of majority-Black electoral districts for state judicial positions. The plaintiffs contended that the district configuration violated the Voting Rights Act, basing their argument on the U.S. Supreme Court's May decision in Louisiana v. Carles. [1] DeSoto County had established two new judicial positions—a circuit judge and a chancery judge—each to be elected from a majority-Black district. [1]
Judge Aycock found that modifying district lines in proximity to an election would contravene established Supreme Court precedent against such changes in the election cycle. The defendants in the case included Mississippi's three-member election commission, comprising Governor Tate Reeves, Secretary of State Michael Watson, and Attorney General Lynn Fitch. [1]