Demetra Alarcon
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
On Friday, the Missouri Supreme Court rejected the Attorney General’s attempt to appeal the high court’s decision regarding congressional maps.
The Missouri Supreme Court ruled the People Not Politicians successfully made their arguments and that Missouri voters will decide on the “Missouri First” map in November. The congressional map created in 2022 is in force for the upcoming November election.
The 2025 map, which split Congressional District 5 into three districts, was met with criticism, with claims that it was gerrymandered in favor of Republicans ahead of the midterms.
Dave Roland, Senior Analyst for The Freedom Center of Missouri, said that for this case to be taken to the Supreme Court of the United States, it has to be within its jurisdiction, and the attorney general will have to prove that there is a Constitutional question in the case.
“And so if the Missouri Supreme Court is taken at its word, then there is no US constitutional question to be appealed to the US Supreme Court. Now, that does not necessarily foreclose the court from accepting review of the case, but it certainly raises questions as to what justification the U.S. Supreme Court would rely on to accept a review of the case,” Roland said.
According to Roland, the jurisdiction of the U.S. Supreme Court is provided by federal law, involving federal questions. However, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled that it was only addressing matters of Missouri law.
“And so if the Missouri Supreme Court is taken at its word, then there is no US constitutional question to be appealed to the US Supreme Court,” Roland said.
Roland does not think that the U.S. Supreme Court will get involved.
“It’s possible that the US Supreme Court could do something unexpected and fairly extraordinary. But at least if things are going to progress along the normal lines, I would be very surprised if the US Supreme Court said, ‘Yes, we actually agree that we have jurisdiction to hear this case,'” Roland said.
“So again, federal courts have been very clear that state courts are the ultimate authorities of state law. And unless there are extremely unusual circumstances, federal courts don’t second-guess what state courts say that state law means or requires,” Roland said.
Since the Missouri Supreme Court rejected the Missouri Attorney General’s attempt to appeal its congressional map decision, the Attorney General now claims that the votes from the August election are nullified and violate the U.S. Constitution.
Roland said that he does not think that it is a correct argument to make, and does not think the U.S. Constitution has been violated.
“So because none of those votes have been invalidated or made to go away, they still resulted in the nomination of candidates. I don’t think you can actually say anyone has been disenfranchised,” Roland said.
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Courtesy: Yuma Fire Department
Courtesy: Yuma Fire Department
Courtesy: Yuma Fire Department
Courtesy: Yuma Fire Department
Twelve-year-old Kincaid Pinon took this photo while riding a delayed bus.(Courtesy: Kincaid Pinon)