One of the most gerrymandered state Senate districts in Mississippi, which meanders 102 miles through the Delta region, violates the Voting Rights Act, a federal judge has ruled. The district connects just enough voters in wealthy, white and Republican areas to the north and south to assure the election of a GOP legislator even though the bulk of the territory is overwhelmingly African-American and Democratic.
Three black voters have sued with the help of the Mississippi Center for Justice, and this week U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves ordered the Legislature to redraw the boundaries before statewide elections this fall. (The job will be made a bit easier for the legislators because the incumbent state senator, Buck Clarke, is running for state treasurer instead of re-election.)
Lorraine Marquez Eiler’s photo of her great-great grandparents and her great-grandparents, who would walk about 50 miles through the Sonoran Desert to the springs.
Construction equipment is seen near the U.S.-Mexico border just west of the Lukeville port of entry on Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. Credit: Stephanie Casanova
Rep. Adelita Grijalva, left, and Tohono O’odham Chairman Verlon Jose listen as Lorraine Marquez Eiler, a Hia-C’ed O’odham elder, shares how her ancestors would hold ceremonies at Quitobaquito Springs. Grijalva visited the springs with tribal leaders on Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. Credit: Stephanie Casanova
Sara Mae Williams, Justice of the Peace in Ajo and a Tohono O’odham citizen, shares their concerns regarding border wall construction on Tohono O’odham land at a town hall at the Ajo Plaza Rec Hall on Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. Credit: Stephanie Casanova