Category Archives: redistricting

“An Antidote for Gobbledygook: Organizing the Judge’s Partisan Gerrymandering Toolkit into a Two-Part Test”

April 7, 2018, 8:55 amredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Sam Wang and Brian Remlinger have posted this timely draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The Supreme Court appears ready to limit extreme partisan gerrymanders. However, defining “extreme” is a challenging proposition, since individual states differ in their political… Continue reading

“Partisan Gerrymandering and the Constitutionalization of Statistics”

April 4, 2018, 8:55 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Jacob Eisler has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, Emory Law Journal). Here is the abstract: Data analysis has transformed the legal academy, and is now poised to do the same to constitutional law. In the latest round of partisan… Continue reading

“It’s harder for Democrats to gerrymander effectively”

April 3, 2018, 7:23 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Vox reports.

“Just how big of a hurdle is gerrymandering to Democrats’ taking back the House this November?”

April 1, 2018, 1:39 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

The Fix: But not everyone agrees with the Brennan Center’s conclusion that gerrymandering will be a nearly insurmountable hurdle to Democrats’ chances this November to win back the House. Yes, gerrymandering is something Democrats need to overcome, but it may… Continue reading

“One Theory or Several?”

March 29, 2018, 12:18 pmredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Ned Foley blogs on the partisan gerrymandering morass at the Supreme Court.

“How the Supreme Court and the Next Census Could Affect the Electoral Map”

March 29, 2018, 7:57 amredistrictingRick Hasen

The Economist: AS LONG as elections have been held, candidates have sought to bend the rules to their advantage. American political parties have taken gerrymandering to new heights, using computer models that enable districts to be crafted block by block… Continue reading

After the Maryland Redistricting Argument at the Supreme Court, Will the Effort to Rein In Partisan Gerrymandering End with a Whimper?

March 28, 2018, 8:40 pmredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

When the Supreme Court agreed to hold a full hearing in the Maryland redistricting case, Benisek v. Lamone, many of us wondered why the Court set a full hearing rather than simply hold the case for resolution of the… Continue reading

“Maryland’s electoral maps show how proportional representation could solve the problem of gerrymandering”

March 28, 2018, 5:26 pmalternative voting systems, redistrictingRick Hasen

Alex Keena, Michael Latner, Anthony J. McGann, and Charles Anthony Smith have written this post at the LSE Blog.… Continue reading

Benisek oral argument

March 28, 2018, 11:48 amredistrictingJustin Levitt

After a redistricting treatise this morning, just a snippet of follow-up for now. This morning, I suggested that the question on the substance of a First Amendment claim for the partisan gerrymandering cases — the question in line with… Continue reading

“Extreme Partisan Gerrymandering: The Supreme Court’s Play In 3 Acts”

March 28, 2018, 7:12 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Nina Totenberg for NPR’s Morning Edition: The First Amendment argument, however, appeals, in particular, to the justice whose vote is likely to decide the case, Justice Anthony Kennedy. In 2004, he provided the fifth vote for the court staying out… Continue reading

“Data scientists help courts grapple with increasingly divisive maps”

March 28, 2018, 7:06 amredistrictingRick Hasen

ABA Journal reports.

Still More on a 1st Amendment Theory of Gerrymandering

March 28, 2018, 4:14 amredistricting, Supreme CourtJustin Levitt

In light of today’s Benisek argument, and at the risk of getting banished to another forum (I jest, I think), I offer a modest addition to the Pildes–Stephanopoulos discussion on partisan gerrymandering and the First Amendment. I agree… Continue reading

The Supreme Court Case That Could Transform Politics: The late Antonin Scalia believed the court was powerless to do anything about gerrymandering. Will today’s justices agree?

March 26, 2018, 2:56 pmredistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

I have written this piece for Politico Magazine. It begins: On Wednesday, the Supreme Court hears arguments in Benisek v. Lamone, a case about whether Maryland violated the First Amendment rights of Republican voters by redrawing the state’s congressional districts… Continue reading

“Facing unfriendly new map, Pennsylvania GOP congressman won’t seek reelection”

March 26, 2018, 7:28 amredistrictingRick Hasen

WaPo: Costello had been considering the decision since February, when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court drew a new map to replace a gerrymander that Republicans put into place seven years ago. The 6th District, which had cut through three suburban counties… Continue reading