Category Archives: redistricting
Analysis: Texas Redistricting Decision Major Victory for Voting Rights Bar and May Pave Way for Texas to Be Back under Federal Supervision
Last night I linked to the extensive ruling and findings of fact and conclusions of law in a very long-running dispute about whether Texas’s congressional districting were a violation of the Voting Rights Act and/or the Constitution. I have now… Continue reading
Breaking: District Court, Splitting 2-1, Finds Some Texas Congressional Districts Violate Voting Rights Act or Constitution
The long awaited lengthy opinion on the congressional plan, with a dissent by Judge Smith, is here. The numerous findings of fact and conclusions of law are here. (The court has not released findings yet on the state… Continue reading
“Ga. Republican Redistricting Plan Called ‘Blatant’ Power Grab”
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”
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”
3 Judge Court Rejects Motion to Dismiss in Another NC Partisan Gerrymandering Case
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
Breaking and Analysis: Supreme Court Decides Bethune-Hill, the VA Racial Gerrymandering Case
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”
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
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”
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
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
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.