A federal judge has ruled that Mississippi’s 38-year-old election map for choosing state supreme court justices violates the Voting Rights Act by diluting the political power of Black residents, who account for about 40% of the state’s population. In a 123-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock found the three-district map, largely unchanged since 1987, gives Black candidates a “grim likelihood of success” because only one district—District 1—has a Black voting-age majority, and even that figure of 51.1% overstates effective voting strength once felony disenfranchisement and voter eligibility are considered. Aycock blocked further use of the map and ordered the Republican-controlled legislature to draft a replacement, scheduling a separate hearing to set deadlines. The decision follows a bench trial brought by Black citizens who argued the current configuration entrenches white majorities on the nine-member court; only four Black justices have ever served, never simultaneously. The state, represented by Attorney General Lynn Fitch’s office, is reviewing the ruling. Plaintiffs, represented by the ACLU and Southern Poverty Law Center, said the judgment corrects a longstanding injustice.