Supreme Court Agrees to Referee Mississippi Redistricting Dispute

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court agreed Monday to referee a congressional boundary dispute from Mississippi, a victory for Democrats who are contesting a plan that helps Republicans.

The case will be the first reviewed by the court over boundaries drawn using 2000 census data. Plans by many other states are also being contested.

The court did not intervene in time to affect this year's election, however. Primaries were held last week in districts favorable to Republicans approved by a federal panel earlier this year.

Mississippi is losing one of its five congressional seats because of sluggish population growth in the 1990s, and incumbents Chip Pickering and Ronnie Shows are competing for one seat.