Category Archives: redistricting
“‘You don’t seem serious,’ federal judge tells NC legislative leaders about redistricting efforts”
News & Observer:
Federal judges had pointed questions and comments Thursday for the lawyer representing North Carolina lawmakers who have not yet complied with the panel’s order to draw new districts for electing General Assembly members.
The judges want the… Continue reading
“Partisan Gerrymandering and the Illusion of Unfairness”
Jacob Eisler has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming, Catholic Law Review). Here is the abstract:
Partisan gerrymandering is frequently condemned for distorting democracy and causing unfair representation, and many reformers have called upon federal courts to prohibit the practice.… Continue reading
Tam Cho on the Efficiency Gap
Important piece at the University of Pennsylvania Law Review Online by Wendy Tam Cho on the “efficiency gap,” at the centerpiece of the Wisconsin redistricting case. It begins:
The efficiency gap has recently been touted as a general partisan fairness… Continue reading
“The way out of partisan gerrymandering”
“GOP mapmaker behind NC’s illegal gerrymanders back at the drawing table again”
News and Observer:
Republican leaders have tapped a familiar consultant to help with the drawing of new districts for electing General Assembly members after maps he drew six years ago were found by the federal courts to include illegal racial… Continue reading
“Democrats’ short-lived 2012 recall victory led to key evidence in partisan gerrymandering case”
Madison.com:
By most accounts, the 2011 and 2012 gubernatorial and Senate recall elections were a complete disaster for Wisconsin Democrats.
Gov. Scott Walker’s historic victory boosted his fundraising and re-election prospects. The recall petition became a litmus test for party… Continue reading
Utah: “San Juan County election maps must be redrawn again, U.S. judge rules”
AP:
The boundaries of election districts in a southeastern Utah county are unconstitutional and violate the rights of American Indians who make up roughly half the county’s population, a federal judge has ruled for the second time.
San Juan County,… Continue reading
“Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Gerrymandering Case May Be Most Important Decision SCOTUS Face”
HuffPost:
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says a case dealing with how far political parties can go to draw election districts to their benefit might be the “most important” the court will hear next term.
Ginsburg made … Continue reading
3-Judge Court has 45 Questions for Parties in Texas Redistricting Trial to Address at Saturday Trial Closing
“Why Democrats are taking aim at gerrymandering”
Steve Mazie for the Economist on Gil v. Whitford.
Two from Ned Foley: One on Due Process and Elections, the Other on Partisan Gerrymandering
The U Chicago Law Review has posted Ned’s Due Process, Fair Play, and Excessive Partisanship: A New Principle for Judicial Review of Election Laws. This is one of Ned’s most significant pieces tying together historical research, jurisprudence, and judicial… Continue reading
“The research that convinced SCOTUS to take the Wisconsin gerrymandering case, explained”
Nick Stephanopoulos for Vox.
“With 2018 election looming, Texas back in court over political maps”
Texas Tribune on the latest trial, starting today, in the never-ending Texas redistricting case.