State’s high court upholds constitutionality of ‘Missouri First’ congressional map

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a mid-decade redrawing of Missouri's congressional districts does not violate the state constitution, though one judge issued a strong dissent.

In the lawsuit brought by Suzanne Luther against Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, Luther and other voters argued that the map approved last summer by the Missouri General Assembly is unconstitutional.

The Republican-dominated General Assembly approved the new map on a party-line vote after the White House started a campaign to get more House seats from red states and increase the party's majority. Democratic states followed with their own gerrymandering efforts.

The Missouri map splits up the current Fifth District -- a Democratic stronghold represented by Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City.

Cole County Circuit Judge Christopher Limbaugh ruled the map constitutional, with the case then appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court.

"The obligation to legislate congressional districts once a decade does not limit the General Assembly's power to redistrict more frequently than once a decade," the majority wrote. "Simply put, 'when' does not mean 'only when.'"

Judge Paul C. Wilson authored a dissenting opinion, saying the map is unconstitutional.

"Respondents contend the general assembly can draw congressional districts immediately after the apportionment and census are reported to the governor and then come back one day later and redistrict again, and that it may repeat this exercise – with no new census or apportionment – as often as it likes," Wilson wrote.

"This is not what the constitution says, and it was not what anyone – not the framers, the voters, or more than 70 years of legislators – has understood it to mean."

The court on Tuesday also issued an opinion that the NAACP lacked standing in its lawsuit challenging the new map.