Big (and voluminous) news from California: in a 126-page opinion, Judge Seeborg has enjoined the inclusion of a question regarding citizenship on the 2020 census. The decision follows on Judge Furman’s opinion out of New York, but is more expansive: … Continue reading
Category Archives: redistricting
On February 22, Rick noted that a North Carolina state trial court had voided a constitutional amendment pertaining to voter ID, because the amendment had been put on the ballot by a legislature elected pursuant to an unconstitutional gerrymander. Today, … Continue reading
Calling the hipsters at SXSW: I got an idea for your Friday afternoon. … Continue reading
From Plaintiffs-Appellees’ Brief filed in the Supreme Court yesterday: A State may not inhibit “the political participation of some in order to enhance the relative influence of others.” McCutcheon v. FEC, 572 U.S. 185, 191 (2014). Given this insuperable principle, … Continue reading
Plaintiffs-Appellees have filed their briefs in Rucho v. Common Cause/League of Women Voters. From the Common Cause plaintiffs’ brief: The 2016 North Carolina Congressional Plan (“2016 Plan” or “Plan”) is the most overt, and likely the most extreme, partisan gerrymander … Continue reading
WaPo op-ed: Though I will not run for president in 2020, I will continue to fight for the future of our country through the National Democratic Redistricting Committee and its affiliates. For too long, Democrats have lost sight of the … Continue reading
I’m off to College Park this afternoon for the Big Ten Strategic Partnership for Applied Redistricting Knowledge (SPARK) Conference Monday and Tuesday, hosted by the University of Maryland. … Continue reading
AP reports that the trial before the three-judge district court is scheduled to start Monday in Cincinnati. … Continue reading
The Baltimore Sun reports: Two members of Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s redistricting commission resigned after The Baltimore Sun asked questions about whether their participation in the body redrawing Maryland’s congressional districts violated state rules.The move came as the commission voted … Continue reading
The abstract of this new ELJ article: Redistricting has been a highly contentious topic in American politics for many decades. The many instances of politicians exploiting the redistricting process to achieve a partisan goal have been widely chronicled. Nonpartisan redistricting … Continue reading
Concord Monitor: House Bill 706 passed 218-123, but only 16 members of the Republican minority voted in favor of the proposal, with 123 Republican members against.Crafted by Durham Democrat Marjorie Smith, the bill would create an independent redistricting commission – … Continue reading
Wisconsin State Journal reports. … Continue reading
Detroit News: A three-judge panel is weighing the fate of a high-profile federal lawsuit alleging gerrymandering by Republican mapmakers who drew Michigan political boundaries in 2011.Plaintiffs who sued over the maps and Republicans who are defending them on Friday filed … Continue reading
Matt Ford for TNR. … Continue reading
Todd Ruger for Roll Call. … Continue reading
Will Doran: Now might be the best chance to end gerrymandering in North Carolina, at least for another decade, a bipartisan group of legislators said Wednesday when they introduced a bill to do just that.Their proposal would end North Carolina’s … Continue reading
WRAL: A key North Carolina GOP lawmaker says Republicans won’t appeal a ruling by state judges that the General Assembly violated a constitutional prohibition against mid-decade redistricting because it unnecessarily changed four House districts in 2017. … Continue reading
Sam Wang, Richard Ober, & Ben Williams have posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Despite multiple opportunities to address the issue, the Supreme Court has declined to take action on partisan gerrymandering. Here we argue that the … Continue reading
DateAuthorPost Title02.11.19Justin LevittSymposium: Clarity of the record should bring clarity of purpose02.08.19Tyler GreenSymposium: 1 First Street, NE, Punxsutawney, PA02.07.19Guy-Uriel E. Charles and Luis E. Fuentes-RohwerSymposium: Precedent dictates a win for the plaintiffs in this term’s partisan-gerrymandering cases02.07.19Kaylan PhillipsSymposium: Much ado … Continue reading
Mike Parsons has posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Partisan gerrymandering claims occupy a unique purgatory in constitutional law, floating between justiciable and nonjusticiable. This term, the Supreme Court will finally decide. The issue said to divide … Continue reading
Salt Lake Tribune: After a landmark power shift that gave San Juan County its first majority Navajo Democrat commission, a state lawmaker from mostly white, Republican Blanding is broaching the subject of secession.The sheer size of the state’s largest county, … Continue reading
Cleveland.com: A three-judge federal panel on Friday rejected a request from the state of Ohio to delay a gerrymandering lawsuit that aims to put a new Ohio congressional district map in place in time for the 2020 election.The state wanted … Continue reading
From the opening brief: … Continue reading
Justin here. I’ve got a new post up at the Take Care blog, on a filing last week from DOJ’s Civil Rights Division. It’s a reversal of position, signed by a political appointee rather than career staff, of a request … Continue reading
You can find the initial entries here (I will update when there are more entries–I declined to participate in the symposium because like Justice Kennedy I remain uncertain about how these cases should be handled): Special Feature: Symposium before the … Continue reading
USLW: A constitutional crisis mainly driven by race and threatening to wipe out the Democratic executive leadership in Virginia could elevate a Republican fighting to preserve state voting districts that critics say disadvantage blacks.Kirk Cox, now the speaker of the … Continue reading
Bridge MI: New evidence submitted on the eve of a landmark trial challenging Michigan’s GOP-drawn legislative districts appears to strengthen the claim the maps were drawn in 2011 for partisan, Republican gain.Emails and other documents filed over the weekend in … Continue reading
Sam Wang: Today we’re releasing a detailed report on Michigan’s new Independent Citizens’ Redistricting Commission!In November, Michigan voters overwhelmingly approved an amendment to their state constitution to remove the power of the state legislature to draw legislative and Congressional district … Continue reading
You can watch this great conversation here. Voting Rights and Wrongs: Hammer Museum, Jan. 31, 2019 … Continue reading
Detroit News: A lawsuit alleging partisan gerrymandering by Michigan’s Republican-led Legislature is heading toward trial next week after a three-judge panel rejected a settlement proposed by Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and plaintiffs. Benson does not have the authority to enter into … Continue reading
Detroit News: Michigan Republicans are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hit pause on a federal lawsuit alleging GOP gerrymandering, a move that could disrupt a settlement agreement announced Friday by Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. Benson’s deal with … Continue reading
And the Virginia racial gerrymandering case is on March 18. Michael Li: Just out: NC and MD partisan gerrymandering cases set for oral argument at SCOTUS on 3/26. #fairmaps #ncpol pic.twitter.com/BlkPcR4ima— Michael Li (@mcpli) January 25, 2019 … Continue reading
Marquette Poll of Wisconsin voters: Seventy-two percent of voters say they prefer redistricting of legislative and congressional districts to be done by a nonpartisan commission, while 18 percent prefer redistricting be done by the legislature and governor. Majorities in each … Continue reading
Richmond Times-Dispatch: A federal court redrawing portions of Virginia’s House of Delegates map in a long-running racial gerrymandering case has picked a new configuration that could help Democrats retake control of the chamber this year and imperil the re-election campaigns … Continue reading
The following is the second of three guest posts by University of Memphis law professor Steve Mulroy, sounding some themes from his fascinating new book, Rethinking US Election Law: Unskewing the System: This is the second of a series of … Continue reading
The Detroit News reports. … Continue reading
Detroit News: Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is working to settle a federal lawsuit against the state alleging partisan gerrymandering by Republican lawmakers who approved legislative and congressional district boundaries in 2011. Benson, who took office Jan. 1, this … Continue reading
Bridge: Nearly a decade after Republicans redrew Michigan’s political districts, a federal lawsuit is set for trial Feb. 5 to determine if they were illegally gerrymandered. Just one hiccup. The new defendant in the case – the one responsible for arguing … Continue reading
Tony Pugh for The Newsroom. … Continue reading
I have written this piece for The Atlantic. It begins: The Supreme Court’s decision on Friday to take up partisan gerrymandering cases from North Carolina and Maryland brought to mind a saying attributed to Judy Garland: Behind every cloud is another cloud. … Continue reading
Howard has it. … Continue reading
Here is the Court order. On what this means, see my tweet thread yesterday. And see The Next Threat to Redistricting Reform, Harvard Law Review Blog, Oct. 22, 2018 How Justice Kennedy’s Successor Will Wreak Havoc on Voting Rights and American … Continue reading
USLW reports. … Continue reading
Tweet thread from me, starts here: There's an excellent chance that tomorrow the Supreme Court will announce it will take up (again) the question whether partisan gerrymandering is unconstitutional. Don't take an agreement to hear case as a sign the … Continue reading
This order was expected; an opinion is promised to follow. Earlier coverage: With North Carolina Supreme Court Now Holding Democratic Majority, Republicans in North Carolina Legislature Seek to Move Partisan Gerrymandering Case to Federal Court. … Continue reading
NPR reports. … Continue reading
Bertrall Ross has posted this draft on SSRN (forthcoming Columbia Law Review). Here is the abstract: The most recent call for judicial intervention into state partisan gerrymandering practices ran aground on the shoals of standing doctrine in Gill v. Whitford. The … Continue reading
Michael Li has the details in this twitter thread: North Carolina Republicans have removed the state-court partisan gerrymandering case challenging the state's legislative maps to federal court. Notice of removal here: https://t.co/cNnNyci9bW #fairmaps #ncpol 1/ — Michael Li (@mcpli) December … Continue reading
NJ.com: Inundated with fierce opposition from across the political spectrum, Democrats who lead the New Jersey Legislature have abruptly shelved a controversial redistricting plan that critics say could bolster their power for decades. Democratic leaders had scheduled a vote for Monday, the … Continue reading
Richmond Times-Dispatch: Republican leaders in the Virginia House of Delegates have formally asked the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and block a lower court’s efforts to redraw the House map for the 2019 elections. In a court filing released … Continue reading