Supreme Court Blocks Missouri Congressional Map Ahead of Midterms The Supreme Court blocked Missouri's GOP-backed congressional map, citing electoral chaos and requiring the use of districts from 2022 and 2024. The map aimed to net Republicans another House seat. The Supreme Court blocked a congressional map in Missouri aimed at netting Republicans another seat in the U.S. House, as voting begins in the midterm elections. The decision requires the state to use the same districts provided to voters in 2022 and 2024, even though a different map was used in the primaries last month. Supreme Court Blocks Missouri Redistricting MapThis is the third time the high court has blocked the redistricting plan that could have helped ousted Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver by increasing the number of Republican voters in his district. The court warned that changing maps now would cause electoral chaos.The ruling comes after weeks of conflicting rulings in state courts and federal courts. Elections officials in Missouri already started mailing some absentee ballots last week using the old districts, and some argued it would be too late to change them.Background of the Missouri Redistricting BattleMissouri lawmakers passed the new map last year at the behest of Trump. It was part of his nationwide strategy to draw more GOP-leaning seats to prevent Republicans from losing the House.Usually, states redistrict at the start of each decade. The redistricting battle set off by Trump ended with the GOP besting the Democrats by tilting about (incomplete in source).Opponents of the new Missouri map successfully gathered citizen signatures to put it to a vote on the November ballot. The Missouri Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that the ballot question meant the 2025 GOP-backed map never went into effect and was never law – even though it had been used in the Aug. 4 primaries.The state's high court blamed Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins for proceeding with the GOP map in the primaries even though it had not been approved by voters. The U.S. Supreme Court in its ruling today backed that up, noting that the state court had said in May - before the primary - that the GOP map would require voter approval before it could be used.Simultaneously, Republicans sued in federal court and won backing for the GOP map from a federal judge and then, last week, a federal appeals court. That sent the case back to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled against Republican lawmakers today.In general, Republicans argued that their map should be used because more than a million Missourians cast votes in the primary using the map. Opponents of redistricting argued voters had not approved the map and blamed Republican officials for dragging out the process and of trying to force through the new map.Long Beach Officer Case and Records DisclosureA former Long Beach Police Officer at the center of a case with major implications for how police records are disclosed is now working for the Burbank Police Department. Erik Suarez was a Long Beach officer in 2019 when he beat a man in Cobb County, Georgia, and was convicted on a misdemeanor battery charge.Four years later, the L.A. DA investigated him for use of force — no charges were filed. In response to a records request from LAist, LBPD officials said they found a sustained finding of unnecessary or unreasonable force from 2023 in Suarez’s personnel file. They posted the corresponding investigative files online later that same day.A defense attorney says Long Beach withheld information about the Georgia conviction from his client and the DA, and is asking the city to turn over records from Suarez’s personnel file. The city of Long Beach has argued information about the officer's misconduct is not relevant to the case at hand and should remain confidential.