Three decisions from the Missouri Supreme Court today leave the state in Congressional redistricting limbo. Two of the rulings say lower court decisions rejecting suits over the boundaries two districts were wrong and the suits must be considered. The two districts were Representative Emanuel Cleaver's 5th Distrct and one in eastern Missouri.
The third supreme court decision rejects the final redistricting maps drawn by a six-judge panel are invalid because the panel did not have the authority to do so. It means the governor will have to appoint another citizens commission and start the process from scratch. House Speker Stephen Tilley expressed his fruistration with the judicial process, calling it “an embarrassment.”
Tilley says that he believes the two contested districts, though, will survive the lawsuits that contend that they are not sufficiently compact.