SCOTUSblog: “One Mystery, One Order on Elections”
The mystery that Lyle mentions is the lingering West Virginia case on equal population requirements in redistricting. And now, it will linger until fall…
Category Archives: redistricting
“Redistricting Petitioners in Maryland in Final Push for Names”
If this petition drive succeeds, it would put Maryland’s congressional map up for referendum. The only other such referendum over new redistricting lines that I’m aware of is the referendum over California’s state Senate lines (there was an earlier drive… Continue reading
Alaska state legislative districts precleared
See this Anchorage Daily News report. State legislative districts in Alabama and Mississippi, and congressional districts in New Hampshire (and, of course, Texas districts beyond the 2012 interim plan) still need preclearance, but most statewide plans are done at this… Continue reading
Nick Stephanopoulos Responds to Himself
In the newest addition to the Harvard Law Review Forum, Nick Stephanopoulos updates his very interesting examination of “Spatial Diversity” and its role in the redistricting process. His latest uses census data to analyze the new congressional districts… Continue reading
“Redistricting: Are You Smarter than a 3rd Grader?”
Plunderbund has this post on the Voters First proposal to create an independent redistricting commission in Ohio. (Dislosure: I’m part of this coalition.)
“Hispanics Looking for November Gains in US House”
The AP has this story, reporting that the current number of Hispanic-held seats is “virtually guaranteed to increase by at least three or four seats because of once-a-decade redistricting that’s created new Hispanic-majority districts in California and Texas” and … Continue reading
Hearing on Alaska Section 5 Case
The three-judge district court in Samuelson v. Treadwell (Kozinski, Beistline, and Singleton) has issued this order setting forth the issues to be addressed at Thursday’s hearing. The complaint challenges the use of an as-yet unprecleared state legislative redistricting plan. Alaska’s… Continue reading
Another Alaska Redistricting Dispute
Today’s Juneau Empire has this report on a dissent from two of the five state supreme court justices, arguing that the maps to be used this year violate the state constitution. The order and dissenting opinions may be found here… Continue reading
SCOTUS Affirms Decision Upholding Maryland Law on “Prison Gerrymandering”
The summary disposition in Fletcher v. Lamone affirms a three-judge district court ruling upholding the state’s “No Representation Without Population Act,” which requires that, for redistricting purposes, prisoners be counted at their legal home addresses rather than where they’re incarcerated.… Continue reading
Alaska Challenging Constitutionality of Section 5
Add Alaska to the list of state and local jurisdictions challenging Section 5’s constitutionality. Alaska Public Radio and the Alaska Dispatch report on the state’s argument, in defense of a lawsuit challenging its failure to obtain preclearance of the state … Continue reading
“Do Democrats Have a Shot at the House?”
Nate Silver analyzes the question in this post, which considers the impact of redistricting and independent expenditures.
Wagner on Prison-Based Gerrymandering
Peter Wagner of the Prison Policy Initiative has this article in the Spring 2012 issue of the William Mitchell Law Review, entitled “Breaking the Census: Redistricting in an Era of Mass Incarceration.” He also has this blog post on the… Continue reading
New Hampshire Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to State House Redistricting
“Forty Years After Watergate; The Decades-Long Fight Against Political Money”
Pam Karlan in the Boston Review: “However, money is only one symptom of a deeper political pathology. We hear a flood of stories and arguments about campaign finance, but relatively little serious popular attention is paid to gerrymandering, restrictive registration… Continue reading