Escalating the fight over Missouri’s GOP gerrymander, Attorney General Catherine Hanaway (R) posted on X that she had referred the grassroots referendum campaign to ICE.

Friday, November 21

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Missouri organizers challenge GOP’s ‘inaccurate and biased’ gerrymander referendum language

- Pro-democracy organizers in Missouri filed a new lawsuit accusing ([link removed] ) Secretary of State Denny Hoskins (R) of using wildly deceptive ballot language to tilt a referendum in favor of the GOP’s mid-decade gerrymander.

- Read the full story >>> ([link removed] )

Meanwhile, Missouri’s AG is siccing ICE on gerrymander referendum signature gatherers

- Escalating the fight over Missouri’s GOP gerrymander, Attorney General Catherine Hanaway (R) posted on X that she had referred ([link removed] ) the grassroots referendum campaign to ICE, without providing evidence for her allegation that it is “employing illegal aliens.”

- Read the full story >>> ([link removed] )

The latest on Texas’ gerrymander

- A district court rejected Texas Republicans’ bid to pause the ruling blocking ([link removed] ) their unconstitutional, gerrymandered map. We now wait for Texas to request a stay from SCOTUS.

- Learn more about the case >>> ([link removed] )



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And an update on North Carolina’s maps

- A three-judge panel found ([link removed] ) that the North Carolina General Assembly did not violate the Constitution or the Voting Rights Act in drawing the 2023 maps. Challenges related to the state's 2025 gerrymander remain pending.

- Learn more about the case >>> ([link removed] )

Coming up Monday

- A state court will hear arguments on a motion to dismiss a legal challenge ([link removed] ) to Missouri’s new gerrymander.

- Learn more about the case >>> ([link removed] )

AND NOW FOR THIS WEEK’S GOOD NEWS

Indiana Senate defies Trump’s push for mid-decade gerrymander

- The Indiana Senate voted ([link removed] ) against President Donald Trump’s call for a special session to redraw the state’s congressional map. Nineteen Republican senators joined Democrats to block the session, defying Trump and Gov. Mike Braun’s (R) demands for an aggressive new gerrymander. The move preserves Indiana’s current map — already one of the most GOP-tilted in the country — and marks a rare instance of a GOP-led legislature openly rebuffing Trump’s pressure campaign.

- Read the full story >>> ([link removed] )

Courts rebuke Trump’s National Guard deployments in D.C. and Memphis

- In Washington, D.C., a federal judge found ([link removed] ) that Trump’s deployment of more than 2,000 National Guard troops was likely illegal and violated the District’s right to self-govern. And in Tennessee, a state court temporarily barred ([link removed] ) Gov. Bill Lee’s (R) deployment of Guard troops to Memphis at Trump’s request, finding the move exceeded the governor’s authority. Both rulings push back against Trump’s efforts to use the military as domestic police.

- Read the full D.C. story >>>

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- Read the full Tennessee story >>> ([link removed] )

Federal judge strikes down Arkansas’ ballot initiative crackdown

- A federal judge in Arkansas halted ([link removed] ) six GOP-backed laws designed to all but shut down Arkansas’ citizen-led ballot initiative process, ruling the restrictions violated core First Amendment rights. The court blocked provisions like the required reading level standards for ballot titles, requiring ID for signing, and rules that slowed signature gathering to a crawl.

- Read the full story >>> ([link removed] )

New York’s top court preserves state Voting Rights Act

- The New York Supreme Court dismissed ([link removed] ) a case attempting to repeal the state’s John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act, ruling the GOP-backed challengers had no standing. The decision keeps the NYVRA fully intact and enforceable — protecting voters against discriminatory election systems — and allows the underlying case challenging the Town of Newburgh’s at-large voting scheme to move forward.

- Read the full story >>> ([link removed] )

Judge denies Trump bid to force ICE courthouse arrests in New York

- A federal judge in New York tossed ([link removed] ) the Trump administration’s case against a state law that bars ICE from making immigration arrests inside state and local courthouses. The judge rejected the administration’s Supremacy Clause claim, finding it had no standing and no legal basis to override New York’s control of its own courts. This ruling ensures people can seek justice without fear and protects state sovereignty.

Appeals court throws out Trump’s election denial suit against CNN

- A federal appeals court unanimously denied ([link removed] ) Trump’s attempt to revive his defamation lawsuit against CNN, calling his claims “meritless.” The three-judge panel — which included two Trump-appointed judges — affirmed that CNN’s references to Trump’s 2020 election lies were protected speech, not defamation. The ruling marks yet another failed effort by Trump to weaponize the courts against accurate reporting.

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