Tennessee
Judges dismiss suit alleging Tennessee's political maps discriminate against communities of color
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal judicial panel has dismissed a lawsuit alleging that Tennessee’s U.S. House maps and those for the state Senate amount to unconstitutional racial gerrymandering.
“In sum, the complaint alleges facts that are consistent with a racial gerrymander,” stated the ruling, which was issued Wednesday. “But the facts are also consistent with a political gerrymander.”
The complaint was the first court challenge over a 2022 congressional redistricting map that carved up Democratic-leaning Nashville to help Republicans flip a seat in last year’s elections, a move that critics claimed was done to dilute the power of Black voters and other communities of color in one of the state’s few Democratic strongholds.
The lawsuit also challenged state Senate District 31 in majority-Black Shelby County, including part of Memphis, using similar arguments and saying that the white voting age population went up under the new maps. A Republican now holds that seat.
However, the three federal judges who wrote the ruling argued there was another clear motivation behind Tennessee’s Republican state legislative supermajority by pointing to “naked partisanship” as the likely “straightforward explanation.”
In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that disputes over partisan gerrymandering of congressional and legislative districts are none of its business, limiting those claims to state courts under their own constitutions and laws. Most recently, the high court upheld South Carolina’s congressional map in a 6-3 decision that said the state General Assembly did not use race to draw districts based on the 2020 Census.
In Tennessee’s case, the plaintiffs included the Tennessee State Conference of the NAACP, the African American Clergy Collective of Tennessee, the Equity Alliance, the League of Women Voters of Tennessee and several Tennessee voters, including former Democratic state Sen. Brenda Gilmore.
After Nashville was splintered into three congressional districts, former Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper of Nashville declined to seek reelection, claiming he couldn’t win under the new layout. Ultimately, Rep. John Rose won reelection by about 33 percentage points, Rep. Mark Green won another term by 22 points, and Rep. Andy Ogles won his first term by 13 points in the district vacated by Cooper.
Tennessee now has eight Republicans in the U.S. House, with just one Democrat left in Memphis Rep. Steve Cohen.
In the original complaint, the plaintiffs argued that all three of the “candidates of choice” for minority voters lost their congressional bids in the Nashville area in 2022.
The judges countered that the lawsuit had to “more than plausibly allege that Tennessee’s legislators knew that their Republican-friendly map would harm voters who preferred Democratic candidates—including the higher percentage of minority voters who preferred those candidates.”
The judges did reject Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s argument that the plaintiffs had waited too long to file their challenge and also declared that the plaintiffs did not have to come up with their own map in their legal challenge. In their dismissal, the judges said the complaint could be refiled over the next 30 days as long as it was amended to “plausibly disentangle race from politics.”
Republicans celebrated the ruling, with House Speaker Cameron Sexton’s office issuing a statement saying they were “happy to have resolution on this matter so that we can focus on what’s ahead for Tennessee.”
Notably, the ruling briefly weighed in on ongoing controversies that have surrounded the Republican-dominant Statehouse, where Democrats have alleged racial discrimination in both the legislative policies enacted and actions that their GOP colleagues have taken recently.
Ranging from the brief expulsion of two young Black Democratic lawmakers to passing legislation aimed at slashing the left-leaning Nashville’s city council, the plaintiffs’ complaint provided several examples that they claimed as evidence of a “discriminatory motive.”
The court countered that the examples had “little to do with redistricting” but did note that they suggest the “possibility of misconduct.”
Meanwhile, Tennessee’s state legislative maps still face another lawsuit on state constitutional grounds.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – Nashville Soccer Club has been named Tennessee’s 2026 “Professional Team of the Year” for its historic 2025 season. Nashville SC and the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame (TSHOF) made the announcement Wednesday.
In 2025, Nashville SC became the first professional sports team in Tennessee to win a championship with its Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup title. The team also qualified for the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons.
“This year’s Achievement Award honorees reflect the very best of Tennessee’s rich sports tradition — from legends who’ve inspired generations to rising stars making their mark on the national stage,“ said Harold Graeter, chairman of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame’s Board of Directors. ”We are proud to honor these individuals and teams whose dedications, excellence, and impact represent what the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Stands for.”
In addition to their Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup title and qualification to the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs, Nashville SC said it set multiple club records in 2025, including:
- The most single season wins in Nashville SC history (22)
- The most single season MLS wins in Nashville SC history (17)
- The longest unbeaten streaks in Nashville SC history (15 all competitions, 12 MLS)
- The most single season home wins in Nashville SC history (15)
- The most single season goals in Nashville SC history (75)
- The most MLS All-Stars in Nashville SC history with three (Hany Mukhtar, Andy Najar, Sam Surridge)
The TSHOF will formally present Nashville SC with its award at its 2026 Banquet at the Omni Nashville Downtown on July 11.
Nashville SC said this honor is the third TSHOF Achievement Award in the club’s history, with the others including principal owner John Ingram’s 2022 ‘Tennessean of the Year’ recognition and Hany Mukhtar’s 2023 ‘Professional Player of the Year’ honors.
Copyright 2026 WSMV. All rights reserved.
Tennessee
A Tennessee congressman introduced a federal bill to crack down on fake emergency calls. Here’s what to know about swatting.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – A U.S. congressman from Tennessee has introduced a bill to crack down on swatting.
Rep. David Kustoff (R, TN-8) introduced the “Preserving Safe Communities by Ending Swatting Act,” which would strengthen federal penalties for swatting.
The measure says, “This bill makes it a crime to intentionally convey false or misleading information in circumstances where the information may reasonably be expected to cause an emergency response and the information indicates the occurrence of criminal conduct or a threat to health or safety (commonly referred to as swatting).”
This comes after more than half a dozen schools in Tennessee were all placed on lockdown this week after hoax school threats.
Here’s which TN schools were impacted by ‘hoax’ threats, and what to know about the swatting investigations
What is swatting?
According to the FBI, swatting is when a person calls 911 and fakes an emergency that draws a response from law enforcement — usually a SWAT team.
The calls can put first responders and victims in dangerous situations, the FBI said, as the callers often report tales of hostages about to be executed or bombs about to go off.
“The community is placed in danger as responders rush to the scene, taking them away from real emergencies,” the FBI said. “And the officers are placed in danger as unsuspecting residents may try to defend themselves.”
While the FBI does not have a publicly recorded number of swatting calls that have been made year over year in the U.S., the National Association of Attorneys General says swatting threats have escalated across the U.S. Because of this, several states have taken targeted action to criminalize these calls, including Kentucky, which in 2022 approved a bill that would increase penalties for falsely reporting emergencies and allow courts to order restitution to affected agencies or individuals.
According to the FBI’s 2023 Year in Review report, it launched the National Common Operating Picture database to track swatting events. The agency reported more than 300 incidents between May and September of 2023.
The K-12 School Shooting Database recorded swatting incidents at U.S. schools from 2023 to 2024. The highest number of reported incidents occurred in March 2023, with 210. The second-most was 148 in February 2023.
Recent swatting incidents in Tennessee
On Tuesday, a flurry of swatting incidents caused several schools in Middle Tennessee to be put on lockdown and lockout, drawing responses from several law enforcement agencies and disrupting students’ education.
In April, the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a threat made against a student at Independence High School.
The school was placed on a brief lockdown as the sheriff’s office investigated the threat.
The sheriff’s office later determined that the call was actually a swatting incident and was likely made from out-of-state.
A spokesperson for Williamson County Schools said some similar false threat calls were made to other schools in the area as well.
The investigation into that incident is ongoing.
Earlier this year, an East Tennessee teen was arrested for allegedly making four swatting calls to the McMinnville Police Department. The caller reported that a person had been shot and another was being held hostage.
The 17-year-old Maryville boy admitted to being angry at another teen staying at a McMinnville home and paying someone to call false emergencies and being present when the calls were made.
The Associated Press reported in 2025 about a wave of swatting calls at multiple college campuses in August.
One of the first incidents in this wave occurred in Tennessee at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga when authorities received false calls reporting an active shooter with an AR-15-style rifle and four people shot.
The AP reported that dispatchers reported hearing multiple gunshots on the calls.
Ways to protect yourself from swatters
The FBI shared measures you can take to protect yourself from swatters, including:
- Review your online presence for sensitive personal information that could enable malicious actors to conduct a swatting attack.
- Exercise care when posting content (including photos and videos) or sharing it with individuals online. Although seemingly innocuous, images and videos can be exploited or manipulated by malicious actors for criminal activity.
- Consider online resources and services that may aid in reducing or removing sensitive publicly available information.
- Use strong, unique passwords and multi-factor authentication on all devices and accounts, including smart home devices.
- Discuss swatting with your family members or colleagues and have a plan in place in the event of law enforcement contact at your residence, business, or other location.
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