NAACP sues to stop special session on redistricting

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) -

The Missouri NAACP is suing Gov. Mike Kehoe to stop a special session on congressional redistricting, arguing that the move is unconstitutional and racially motivated.

The NAACP and two Missourians, including a Columbia woman, filed the lawsuit Wednesday afternoon in Cole County. The group is seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent lawmakers from moving forward.

“The last census was 2020, and maps were redrawn in 2022. We don’t do it again until the next census,” said Rod Chapel, attorney and president of the NAACP Missouri State Conference. “By asking lawmakers to come back and redraw violates the Missouri Constitution.”

Kehoe called lawmakers back to Jefferson City last week to redraw the state’s congressional districts in an effort to retain GOP control of the U.S. House. State House lawmakers gaveled in Wednesday afternoon and set a Thursday hearing on the proposed map.

The new map primarily alters the 5th Congressional District, stretching it out of Kansas City and into parts of mid-Missouri. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Democrat from Kansas City, currently represents the district. He is one of two Democrats in Missouri’s congressional delegation, while Republicans hold the other six seats.

Chapel said the redistricting push carries racial undertones.

“Nationwide, we are seeing a movement where Black and brown voices are being silenced,” Chapel told ABC 17 News.  “Communities perceived as Black and brown, Kansas City and St. Louis, are being subjected to their votes being taken away, their political power being taken away so that a few political fat cats can have the things that they want.”

The lawsuit said Missouri would suffer "irreparable harm" if the special session was allowed to proceed, the standard needed to get a judge to issue a temporary restraining order to stop the session. Lawmakers are paid daily for their time at the Capitol, and citizens would need to travel to and from the Capitol in order to participate in hearings, which Chapel said would cost the state time and money for a session that may be unconstitutional.

“We can see that on a plain textual argument from the Missouri Constitution, that what's happening here is inappropriate," Chapel said.

Other states, like California, have pushed back against President Trump with redistricting efforts of their own. However, Chapel says one of the key differences is that Missouri has a travel advisory for minority residents and visitors, which the NAACP first issued in 2017 and has never rescinded. An example he gave is former Attorney General Andrew Bailey refusing to release racial disparity data, despite it being required by law.  He says that Missouri’s redistricting efforts are a clear attempt to take political power from black communities in St. Louis and Kansas City. 

“It tells folks who are Black, brown, and frankly, of any persuasion, that if you’re here in Missouri, you can be treated differently,” Chapel said. “The criminal justice system has a whole different set of outcomes for you.”

Some citizens joined the NAACP’s push against the session, including St. Louis resident Juanuta Storey, who drove over 100 miles to the Capitol to protest.

“I don’t care what party you are affiliated with when your rights are taken away, there’s no longer a democracy,” Storey said. “We just want our rights. And I think if we can all agree on that, just the simple right to vote. That’s all I’m asking for. Keep my right to vote, keep it fair, keep the elections fair.”

Storey said she sees the fight over redistricting as part of a broader erosion of democratic values.

“We’ve become the divided states of America, and it’s sad,” she said. “We are the United States of America. United we are stronger.”