DETROIT — Michigan's redistricting commission argued in a court filing late Tuesday that a lawsuit from current and former Detroit lawmakers that seeks to increase the share of Black voters in the new congressional and state legislative districts adopted by the commission could threaten Black voters' representation.
In their legal challenge against the maps, the Detroit Caucus — a group of lawmakers who represent the city in the state Legislature — and other local politicians and Democratic activists criticize the mapmakers' decision to eliminate majority-Black congressional and state Senate districts and reduce the number of those districts in the new state House map.
In its brief responding to the lawsuit, the commission argues that creating majority-Black districts "is not only unnecessary to protect Black equal opportunity, but also harmful."
