- A federal judge, Eleanor Ross, has declared that school board districts in Georgia’s second-largest school system are discriminatory and must be redrawn before the 2024 elections.
- Ross has mandated state lawmakers to draw a new map by Jan. 10, a deadline deemed “impossible” by the district.
- Four board seats are up for election in 2024, and any new map could impact the existing 4-3 Republican majority on the board.
A federal judge has ruled that school board districts in Georgia’s second-largest school system appear to be unconstitutionally discriminatory and must be quickly redrawn ahead of 2024’s elections.
U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross on Thursday forbade the Cobb County school district from using a map supported by the current board’s four Republican members, finding in an preliminary injunction that the map is “substantially likely to be an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.”
The Cobb County district on Friday asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to step in immediately and set the order aside, saying the district has been unfairly excluded from the litigation. The district warns that if the appeals court doesn’t act quickly, the “plaintiffs’ scheme to use the courts to overthrow the will of Cobb County voters and replace the duly enacted redistricting map with one that advances their own political goals — without opposition — therefore will succeed exactly as plaintiffs envisioned.”
GEORGIA PLAINTIFFS CRITICIZE PROPOSED VOTING DISTRICT MAPS AS ‘MOCKERY’ OF FEDERAL LAW
Ross ordered state lawmakers to draw a new map by Jan. 10, which will be unlikely unless Gov. Brian Kemp orders a special session. Lawmakers don’t convene until Jan. 8 and normal legislative rules don’t allow a bill to pass in three days. The district called the deadline “impossible,” saying it takes away the legislature’s rightful chance to fix the problems.
That means Ross could draw a new map, or could accept a map proposed by the plaintiffs, a group of Cobb County residents…
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