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Congressional map back in Supreme Court

Jacob Fenston
/
KBIA

Two lawsuits challenging Missouri’s new congressional district map have been heard for a second time by the State Supreme Court. The cases returned to the high court after the map was upheld two weeks ago by a Cole County judge.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs continued their arguments that the district drawn on the so-called Grand Compromise Map fails the state constitution’s compactness requirement.  One of them, Jamie Barker Landes, criticized the new 5th district, which lumps three rural GOP-leaning counties with urban Jackson County, while also adding a slice of Jackson County onto the rural northern Missouri district.

“It’s time to end the practice of dividing Jackson County up like a sausage the way it is. Our citizens ought to be able to look at this map and say, ‘yeah, that looks as compact as may be.’”

Attorneys defending the map argued that it’s not possible for everyone to agree on what is or is not compact.  The High Court will rule on the suits later. 

Missouri Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a proud alumnus of the University of Mississippi (a.k.a., Ole Miss), and has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off the old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Mason, and their cat, Honey.