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« Darby Conley -- Genius | Main | Indiana University Alumni Trustee Election Day » June 28, 2006GerrymanderingThe Supreme Court ruled today on a significant election law issue in League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry. The case addressed two issues but the most significant finding, in my mind, is that a mid-decade drawn congressional map is valid. Neither the Constitution nor Congress has stated any explicit prohibition of mid-decade redistricting to change districts drawn earlier in conformance with a decennial census.This ruling could spur other mid-decade redistricting in other states and make things interesting everywhere (I think the interest in state politics shot up a bit today across America). But the Court remained split on whether all partisan gerrymander claims are beyond judicial review. Here's Justice Anthony M. Kennedy's summation in the pluraity decision: In sum, we disagree with appellants' view that a legislature's decision to override a valid, court-drawn plan mid-decade is sufficiently suspect to give shape to a reliable standard for identifying unconstiutitonal political gerrymanders. We conclude that appellants have established no legally impermissible use of political classifications. For this reason, they state no claim on which relief may be granted for their statewide challenge.Update: Rick Pildes of NYU Law School has thoughts here, and election law god Rick hason has his thoughts here. Posted by Joshua Claybourn at June 28, 2006 01:25 PM CommentsKudos to the court for not legislating from the bench on this one. Nonetheless, gerrymandering is a problem. It is not just in Congressional districts either. The local Democratic Party gerrymandered the County Council seats in Bloomington and the state legislature gerrymandered their districts to the point that only 44 of 100 seats in the Indiana House of Representatives are contested. This is something that needs to be addressed, but voters need to care enough to demand it. Posted by: ConservaTibbs at June 29, 2006 03:38 PM | permalink Posted by: ConservaTibbs at June 29, 2006 03:38 PM | permalink Right Scott, not the 2005 redistricting of the Council Map performed by two Comissioners without any insight from the Republican clerk, Jim Fielder. Who has in turn called the redistricting nothing but partisan politics from his fellow party members. Posted by: Brian at June 30, 2006 12:24 PM | permalink It does seem that there is a Constitutional right to make Congressional districts uncompetitive. Whether doing so is in the best interest of the country remains to be seen. Posted by: Joel Betow at July 1, 2006 01:08 PM | permalink Was the re-drawing of districts by the GOP politically motivated? Yes. Do the districts make more sense, and better comply with state law than the gerrymandered Democrat districts from 2001? http://www.conservatibbs.com/2006/02/redistricting-one-more-time_19.html I mean, really, take a look at the 2001 Democrat maps and tell me they were not gerrymandered, especially to help Mark Stoops. Posted by: ConservaTibbs at July 1, 2006 02:36 PM | permalink Post a comment |
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