Cooper: It’s pretty rare when the United States Supreme Court issues a 9-0 decision on such a controversial issue as redistricting. But it’s clear that these racially gerrymandered districts are unconstitutional. I don’t think we should have another budget pass or another legislative session without fixing this problem. And the Republican leadership is dragging its feet on drawing these maps. They say they want direction from the court. But there’s no direction that the court is going to give them except a time limit on when they need to have the maps drawn and when the election is going to be.
Bullock: And that guidance the federal panel says will come quickly, so I do want to bring up the Republican leaders of the General Assembly points, sir. Why not wait to at least see what their timeline is? Why not let this process take a bit of time and make sure that it’s done correctly?
Cooper: The reason they wanted to take time is because it’s quite possible that the maps that they pass again are not constitutional. So they want to drag this thing out so it’s bumping up against the next election. What we’re talking about is whether the legislature draws these maps or the court does. And if these maps aren’t drawn quickly, I would hope that the court would do it.