Tennessee Congressional Redistricting Challenge (Sherman)

A pro-voting lawsuit challenging Tennessee’s new gerrymandered map that dismantled the state’s lone majority-Black district in Memphis.

Background

Black voters and pro-voter groups filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the state’s new gerrymandered map that dismantled the state’s only majority-Black district, Memphis. Plaintiffs assert that the legislature’s “White-dominated supermajority” gerrymandered Black voters in the state “completely out of power in federal elections” in violation of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. Plaintiffs also argue that Republican legialstors used the collective organizing power among Black voters as a “motivating factor” for the legislature to conduct mid-decade redistricting, in violation of the First Amendment’s protection of association and expression. The lawsuit seeks to block the new gerrymandered map. 

Why It Matters

The lawsuit comes after the Supreme Court’s decision to significantly weaken federal protections against racial vote dilution under the Voting Rights Act. Tennessee became one of the first states to pursue an aggressive mid-decade redistricting after the ruling, including efforts dismantling the state’s only Democratic-leaning and majority-Black congressional district based in Memphis.

Latest Updates

• May 27, 2026: A three-judge panel has been assigned. Defendants filed their opposition to plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction. Plaintiffs notified the court of the Alabama district court’s grant of a motion for preliminary injunction in Milligan.
• May 26, 2026: The court denied plaintiffs’ motion for a temporary restraining order.
• May 22, 2026: The court consolidated the case with Hale, NAACP, and a pro se lawsuit.
• May 14, 2026: The court reassigned the case.
• May 13, 2026: Plaintiffs filed their motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to block the new gerrymander. Plaintiffs filed their opposition to defendants’ motion to reassign the case.
• May 12, 2026: Plaintiffs filed a motion asking the court to retain the case. Defendants filed their opposition to the motion and filed a cross-motion for reassignment with Hale.
• May 11, 2026: Plaintiffs filed their complaint.