Missouri judges press state on map plans after Supreme Court ruling

Missouri’s top judges pressed the state on Thursday over how it will revert to an old congressional map after the Supreme Court blocked officials from implementing their new, GOP-favored lines.

That block landed moments before a hearing on whether Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins should be held in contempt for directing local officials to proceed with the design, which would have given the GOP a 7-1 advantage in its House delegation.

“We just want to make sure that the law is followed,” said Chief Justice W. Brent Powell.

The hearing reflected the chaotic nature of Missouri’s redistricting battle after a barrage of recent legal rulings. The parties were still processing the Supreme Court’s latest decision when arguments kicked off in the state. It left the judges and lawyers alike scrambling to figure out what comes next.

Principal Deputy Solicitor General William Seidleck tried to assuage concerns, but he cautioned the state was still “carefully evaluating the situation.”

“I want to make sure that we’re all on the same page here. HB-1 never went into effect, right?” Powell pushed him shortly into the argument, referring to Republicans’ favored map.

“Yes, per this court’s holding,” Seidleck conceded.

Still, the judges appeared concerned. Powell warned Hoskins “to not venture far” until the contempt push is resolved. At another point, Judge Paul Wilson quipped, “it’s just English” as he scoffed at the state’s responses.

The court has announced it will reconvene Thursday afternoon for another session.

Missouri’s election plunged into chaos last week when the state’s top court ruled a referendum needed to take place before Republicans can implement their favored 7-1 congressional map . A federal judge then separately told officials they needed to move ahead with the map anyways, because that’s what was used for the primary.

The dueling directives led to public confusion about what would happen for the midterms, now less than 60 days away.

“The secretary was truly in a rock and a hard place,” Seidleck said.

Less than an hour before Thursday’s hearing, the Supreme Court lifted the latter order. The state’s deputy solicitor general agreed that changed things.

“This court’s injunction is now fully controlling the situation,” Seidleck continued, “And unless and until a federal court comes back and says otherwise, it’s this court’s injunction that is guiding the analysis right now.”

That answer did not seem to completely satisfy the Missouri judges.

“But you would agree again – I’m just going to reiterate this: That federal guidance that you potentially could get down the road is not going to change the fact that HB-1 never went into effect,” Powell said.