Category Archives: redistricting

“Ga. Republican Redistricting Plan Called ‘Blatant’ Power Grab”

March 8, 2017, 5:21 pmredistricting, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

WABE: Thousands of metro Atlanta voters would find themselves in different state House districts under a Republican plan that Democrats allege reduces the influence of minority voters. Similar moves in other states have been challenged in federal courts, according to… Continue reading

Georgia: “Democrats cry foul as House Republicans redraw district lines”

March 4, 2017, 10:06 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia House Republicans made a late bid Friday to change the district boundaries for eight Republicans and one Democrat. The one Democrat, Rep. Sheila Jones, D-Atlanta, is not happy. Jones said she didn’t know about House Bill … Continue reading

“Another redistricting blow for Virginia GOP: Judges award $1.3 million in attorneys fees”

March 3, 2017, 4:01 pmelection law biz, redistrictingRick Hasen

Ouch!

3 Judge Court Rejects Motion to Dismiss in Another NC Partisan Gerrymandering Case

March 3, 2017, 3:36 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

They are going to be piling up as we expect the Supreme Court to take up the Wisconsin case next term. Today’s latest opinion, in Common Cause v. Rucho, is unanimous and discusses the efficiency gap. which plays a… Continue reading

Bethune-Hill News Roundup

March 1, 2017, 5:37 pmredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

NYT WaPo AP Bloomberg LAT USA Today Reuters WSJ HuffPo Amy Howe (SCOTUSBlog) Politico More to come

Breaking and Analysis: Supreme Court Decides Bethune-Hill, the VA Racial Gerrymandering Case

March 1, 2017, 7:07 amredistricting, Supreme Court, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

The Supreme Court, in an opinion by Justice Kennedy (joined by the Court’s liberals and Chief Justice Roberts) has affirmed in part and reversed in part the Virginia racial gerrymandering case, Bethune-Hill v. Va. State Board of Elections . Justice… Continue reading

“Mathematical theorem finds gerrymandering in PA congressional district maps”

February 28, 2017, 1:42 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

Phys.org: Pennsylvania’s congressional district maps are almost certainly the result of gerrymandering according to an analysis based on a new mathematical theorem on bias in Markov Chains developed by Carnegie Mellon University and University of Pittsburgh mathematicians. Their findings are… Continue reading

Wisconsin Files #SCOTUS Notice of Appeal in Partisan Gerrymandering Case, Triggering Likely High Court Review Next Term

February 24, 2017, 10:36 amredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

This is a big deal. (Background on why the Court will likely hear the case on the merits.) Will Justice Kennedy agree to police partisan gerrymandering as his parting gift from SCOTUS?

“From Educational Adequacy to Representational Adequacy: A New Template for Legal Attacks on Partisan Gerrymanders”

February 22, 2017, 3:28 pmredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Chris Elmendorf has posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: For decades, legal attacks on partisan gerrymanders have foundered on a manageability dilemma: doctrinal standards the Supreme Court has regarded as judicially discoverable have been rejected as unmanageable,… Continue reading

What Does Judge Gorsuch Think About Partisan Gerrymandering? A Tiny Tea Leaf

February 18, 2017, 4:35 pmredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

For more than the last decade, since the Supreme Court decided Vieth v. Jubelirer, plaintiffs have been angling to get another case raising the question before the Supreme Court. In Vieth, Justice Kennedy sided with the dissenters in holding… Continue reading

At William and Mary Redistricting in 2020 Symposium

February 16, 2017, 7:52 pmredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

The next few days should be great at this event. I’ll be presenting Race or Party, Party as Race, or Party All the Time: Three Uneasy Approaches to Conjoined Polarization In Redistricting and Voting Cases.

Gerrymandering and partisan composition of Congress (cont.)

February 14, 2017, 4:18 pmredistrictingJustin Levitt

At Rick (Hasen)’s request, I wanted to add just a bit to Rick (Pildes)’s original post on the new paper by Jowei Chen and David Cottrell, proposing a means to assess the net partisan consequences of congressional redistricting. Given the… Continue reading

“Elbridge Gerry and the Monstrous Gerrymander”

February 11, 2017, 6:26 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

New blog post at the Library of Congress: Gerrymandering is a current political topic today; as always, it is usually initiated by the incumbents to retain or increase their power. When gerrymandering is taught in U.S. history classes, it is… Continue reading

“The Supreme Court will examine partisan gerrymandering in 2017. That could change the voting map.”

February 10, 2017, 7:53 amredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Bernie Grofman at The Monkey Cage (and to be clear, the Supreme Court has not yet agreed to hear any case raising these issues): If, in 2017, the court does not specify a manageable standard for identifying unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering,… Continue reading