Category Archives: redistricting

“2 lawsuits challenging Wisconsin’s congressional map filed with state Supreme Court”

May 9, 2025, 7:26 amredistrictingRick Hasen

WPR: Two lawsuits have been filed asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to declare the state’s congressional map unconstitutional ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The lawsuits come roughly a month after liberals retained their majority on the court with the… Continue reading

Breaking: Three-Judge District Court Finds Alabama’s Congressional Redistricting Plan Intentionally Discriminated Against Black Voters Updated

May 8, 2025, 12:43 pmcourt decisions, redistricting, Uncategorized, Voting Rights ActTravis Crum

The court’s 571-page opinion is here. This decision is on remand from the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in Allen v. Milligan. This is the latest decision in the long-running Section 2 litigation against Alabama’s congressional redistricting plans. Back in… Continue reading

“Reporting Gerrymanders”

April 29, 2025, 1:10 pmelection law "humor", redistricting, Supreme CourtRick Hasen

Ross Davies has written this fun article for The Green Bag. Here is the abstract: Over the past 80 years or so, maps have appeared in many (but not all) of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions involving gerrymanders. This… Continue reading

MALDEF Files Section 2 Suit Challenging Stanislaus County, California, redistricting plans

April 24, 2025, 6:58 amredistricting, Voting Rights ActTravis Crum

The complaint is here. The press release is here: MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) filed a challenge to the county’s 2021 Board of Supervisors and Board of Education redistricting plans on behalf of four voters… Continue reading

Pennsylvania: “DOJ drops lawsuit against City of Hazleton”

April 23, 2025, 5:04 amredistricting, Voting Rights ActTravis Crum

Another Section 2 case dropped by the Trump Administration. The Standard Speaker reports: The U.S. Justice Department dropped a lawsuit Monday to stop the City of Hazleton from electing council members at-large, a change that the lawsuit said would give… Continue reading

My New One at Slate: “What Elon Musk Won in Wisconsin”

April 3, 2025, 1:12 pmcampaign finance, judicial elections, Plutocrats United, redistrictingRick Hasen

I have written this piece for Slate. It begins: Democrats and progressives rightly celebrated the victory of liberal Susan Crawford over Trump-endorsed Brad Schimel for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. But the left is prematurely gloating over how… Continue reading

“Liberal Wins Wisconsin Court Race, Despite Musk’s Millions”

April 2, 2025, 7:03 amjudicial elections, Plutocrats United, redistrictingRick Hasen

NYT: A liberal candidate for a pivotal seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court overcame $25 million in spending from Elon Musk and defeated her conservative opponent on Tuesday, The Associated Press reported, in a contest that became a kind of… Continue reading

“Elon Musk Revealed Why He’s Spending Millions to Flip the Wisconsin Supreme Court; It’s all about preserving gerrymandered districts that lock in Republican power.”

March 25, 2025, 10:12 amjudicial elections, Plutocrats United, redistrictingRick Hasen

Ari Berman in Mother Jones: On March 22, Elon Musk hosted conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel and US Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) for a discussion on X about the importance of the Wisconsin Supreme Court election on April… Continue reading

Oral argument preview in Louisiana v. Callais

March 23, 2025, 7:00 amredistricting, Supreme CourtDerek Muller

Here’s SCOTUSblog on Louisiana v. Callais (consolidated with Robinson v. Louisiana), an appeal from a three-judge panel on a racial gerrymandering claim. Argument will take place 10 am ET Monday, March 24. Some oral argument previews: CBS News The Center … Continue reading

Crum: “Questioning Shaw in Callais”

March 21, 2025, 6:58 amredistricting, Supreme CourtDerek Muller

The following is a guest post from Professor Travis Crum: On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Louisiana v. Callais, a Shaw challenge to Louisiana’s congressional redistricting plan. This is the first time the Court will… Continue reading

Are at-large v. single member district elections affecting how Texas school boards behave?

March 20, 2025, 5:35 amalternative voting systems, redistrictingDerek Muller

Interesting piece at the Texas Tribune.

“Assessing Gerrymandering after the 2020 Census”

March 12, 2025, 7:31 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Daniel Magleby and Michael D. McDonald have written this draft for ELJ. Here is the abstract: The Roberts Court has turned over efforts to limit gerrymanders to politics and willing state courts. Scholars have proposed several methods for evaluating… Continue reading

“Malapportionment: A Murder Mystery”

March 10, 2025, 9:55 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Daniel Wodak has posted this paper (forthcoming, Northwestern University Law Review). Here is the abstract: Malapportionment—electoral districts with divergent ratios of people to representation—was ruled to be unconstitutional in a widely venerated series of cases before the Warren Court. Those… Continue reading

“Drawing Representation from Taxation: A Tax-Based Approach to Redistricting”

March 6, 2025, 6:40 amredistricting, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

Jacob Hooper has written this student note for the George Mason Law Review. Here is the abstract: The Supreme Court’s 2023 Allen v. Milligan decision upheld Thornburg v. Gingles from 1986. Gingles established preconditions creating majority-minority districts to protect a… Continue reading