By HUNTER FIELD | Arkansas Advocate
A federal three-judge panel late Tuesday declined to dismiss a challenge to Arkansas’ new congressional district map — a surprise decision given the same panel had dismissed a similar lawsuit earlier this year.
The order didn’t include the panel’s reasoning, but an explanation will be filed “in due course,” Judge D.P. Marshall Jr. wrote.
The suit was brought in May by a group of Central Arkansas voters and the Christian Ministerial Alliance, claiming Arkansas’ 2nd Congressional District — which includes most of Central Arkansas — was racially gerrymandered.
The complaint says parts of Pulaski County were “cracked,” or separated from the 2nd Congressional District to split up a voting bloc.
The General Assembly in redrawing Arkansas’ congressional districts in 2021 replaced a predominantly Black area of Pulaski County in the 2nd District with predominantly white Cleburne County. Previously, the entirety of Pulaski County was in the 2nd Congressional District and Cleburne was in the 1st District.
Then-Gov. Asa Hutchinson refused to sign the congressional redistricting legislation, expressing concerns about its impact on minority population. However, he also didn’t veto it, allowing the plan to become law without his signature.
Pulaski County is now divided into three different congressional districts. This split was unnecessary and goes against conventional redistricting principles, the plaintiffs said.
The similar case, Simpson v. Hutchinson, was dismissed in May after the federal panel decided the plaintiffs had not proven that race was the “predominant factor” when state lawmakers redrew congressional boundaries in 2021.
The Christian Ministerial Alliance case has focused partly on the notion that the Legislature moved far more voters to new districts than was necessary.
To balance populations in the 1st, 2nd and 4th congressional districts, Arkansas lawmakers needed to move roughly 16,500 voters out of the 2nd District. However, state legislators moved more than 40,000 voters from a predominantly Black area in Pulaski County, per the suit.
This “overkill” was the focus of judges’ questions during oral arguments on the state’s motion to dismiss the case on Monday.
This new case has also looked even more closely at the political subdivisions that were split by the new maps in an extraordinary way, according to Michael Skocpol, an attorney representing the plaintiffs.
Skocpol said they were pleased the panel agreed that this case goes farther than the previous case that was dismissed in May.
“We’re pleased with the court’s ruling and quick action to deny the motion to dismiss our complaint after Monday’s hearing,” Skocpol said.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin in a statement said plaintiffs’ case remains flawed.
“I’m disappointed by the district court’s ruling and look forward to reviewing the court’s forthcoming order explaining that ruling,” Griffin said. “But make no mistake, this procedural ruling does not change the fact that — just like the previous, identical lawsuit — Plaintiffs’ case is legally infirm and will fail.”
The parties were instructed to next agree on a discovery schedule as the case proceeds.
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