From today’s opinion in State of NY v. US Dep’t of Commerce: Broadly speaking, in this Opinion, the Court reaches three conclusions with respect to Defendants’ motions. First, the Court categorically rejects Defendants’ efforts to insulate Secretary Ross’s decision to… Continue reading

The Bridge: Emails have emerged in a federal lawsuit that suggest Republicans gerrymandered congressional districts in Michigan in 2011 to maintain an advantage over Democrats, despite years of claims the lines are drawn without political bias. The lawsuit references private… Continue reading

Hansi Lo Wang for NPR: A few months after he started leading the Commerce Department, Secretary Wilbur Ross became impatient. As a powerful decider for the U.S. census, he had a keen interest in adding a citizenship question to the… Continue reading

Charles Fried for the HLR Blog:   There is a clear constitutional warrant. As long ago as 1986, the Court recognized that partisan gerrymanders manifestly offend the Fourteenth Amendment’s constitutional guarantee of equal protection. They are also contrary to the… Continue reading

Michael Wines reports for the NY Times.

NYT editorial. Nice @nytopinion piece on redistricting commissions, BUT…. They were ruled as constitutional by a 5-4 SCOTUS vote in 2015. One of the 5 was Justice Kennedy. Will the law change if Kavanaugh is confirmed?https://t.co/OShiRHNlJ9 — Ronald Klain… Continue reading

The Detroit News reports on oral arguments.   

The Detroit News reports.

Detroit News: The Michigan Supreme Court’s Republican majority may decide the fate of a proposal that could dismantle political map-making rules that critics argue the GOP has manipulated to keep and grow power in Lansing and Washington, D.C. The state’s… Continue reading

Sam Wang, Ben Williams, and Rick Ober in the American Prospect: With prospects for federal action on gerrymandering fading fast, it’s time to pursue reform through individual states. Such a federalist approach lacks the sweeping breadth of constitutional doctrine.… Continue reading

NPR: “After the Supreme Court declined to make a decision about whether partisan gerrymandering is unconstitutional, the issue is becoming a campaign issue for Democrats around the country.”

Daily Press: “Now on its way, for the second time to the U.S. Supreme Court, the cost to taxpayers of the House’s intervention in the case  has reached $4,067,098.03, according to Speaker Kirk Cox’s office. (In addition, the attorney… Continue reading

Jason Harrow in The Hill.  I wouldn’t count on it, much as I like the First Amendment associational rights theory that he suggests.

Plaintiffs in Common Cause v. Rucho have filed a new brief before the three-judge district court addressing Gill‘s impact on both standing and the merits of their constitutional claims.  The brief and exhibits along with a press release are available… Continue reading