Charles Kelbley column for the Legal Intelligencer. … Continue reading
Category Archives: redistricting
Fascinating Ross Ramsey column: There are many sneaky ways to disenfranchise voters — to rig the electoral system so that one group’s voices are not quite as loud as others’ —but the 23rd Congressional District of Texas might be one … Continue reading
CBS Miami: Oliva, who is set to take over as speaker of the House after the 2018 elections, said in the wake of the failed session that he was ready to consider an independent redistricting commission that would recommend maps … Continue reading
Here, at Oyez. … Continue reading
There has been a ruling, of sorts, in the never-ending Texas redistricting case challenging the Texas House and Texas congressional districts under the Voting Rights Act. The three-judge panel, which has been hearing permutations of this case for about half … Continue reading
National Journal reports. … Continue reading
Bob Barnes writes for WaPo. … Continue reading
Howard Wasserman: “wyers for both sides in yesterday’s argument in Shapiro v. McManus encountered an unusually subdued Court. In a case considering whether a single district judge can dismiss, for failure to state a claim, an action that otherwise must … Continue reading
Adam Liptak in the NYT on Shapiro v. McManus: At a Supreme Court argument on Wednesday about procedures in redistricting cases, the justices appeared to be trying to reconcile two conflicting impulses. They did not want to close the door … Continue reading
From today’s transcript in Shapiro v. McManus: CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: I mean, the other alternative is it’s a three-judge district court, and then we have to take it on the merits. I mean, that’s a serious problem because there are a lot of cases that come up in three-judge district courts that would be the kind of case – I speak for myself, anyway– that we might deny cert in, to let the issue percolate. And now with the three-judge district court, no, we have to decide it on the merits… JUSTICE BREYER: I as far — as far as I understand it, his strongest argument on the other sidewould roughly go – he didn’t put it this way — like this: On your side is the fact, well, why wouldn’t a three-judge court decide a very important question of law in this area? On the other side of it is that, well, you just have left, in three-judge courts primarily, almost exclusively, reapportionment issues, which are specially political. And to put these all, you know, they are very — because of the opinions you point out in Vieth,– … Continue reading
You can read it here. I previewed this case (and two others the Court is hearing this term) in Supreme Court Heads Back into the Political Thicket, Orange County Lawyer, Sept. 2015. … Continue reading
Arizona Daily Star: A Republican claim of bias in the legislative redistricting process does not stand up under scrutiny, according to an attorney for the Independent Redistricting Commission. In legal briefs filed at the U.S. Supreme Court, Mary O’Grady points … Continue reading
Columbus Dispatch: Voters overwhelmingly backed a plan to reform Ohio’s hyper-partisan process for drawing legislative districts, and supporters are already looking ahead to passing the same reforms for congressional districts next year. …The current five-member redistricting panel, which includes the … Continue reading
Sam Wang: Today, I filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the Harris v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission case (S. Ct. 14-232). The brief can be found here. In it, I argue that the Supreme Court should reject Harris’s case on the … Continue reading
Release: Today, the Campaign Legal Center filed an amici brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Harris v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission on behalf of former Justice Department attorneys in support of the Commission and its redistricting plan. The brief … Continue reading
Bob Barnes for WaPo: Steve Shapiro recently pulled his first all-nighter in years. He worked until about 1 a.m. last month on an assignment for a class at American University’s Washington College of Law, where he is a first-semester 1L. … Continue reading
Senate redistricting map gets 4-3 approval but its fate remains murky Dan Webster increases heat to keep his seat, files to intervene in court case … Continue reading
Rob Richie’s contribution to WaPo Evenwel symposium. … Continue reading
WaPo: A panel of three federal judges ruled Thursday that the 12 House of Delegates districts that Democrats challenged in federal court are constitutional, giving Republicans a win for now in Virginia’s fraught political map-making battle. The 2-to-1 ruling comes … Continue reading
Here, via the Brennan Center’s Evenwel page. … Continue reading
Rick Pildes Nina Perales Ilya Shapiro Aaron Blake … Continue reading
Read it here (my earlier coverage). … Continue reading
Howard Wasserman at SCOTUSBlog: In Shapiro v. McManus, to be argued on Wednesday, November 4, the Court will consider the proper distribution of power in cases potentially governed by the three-judge procedure. Specifically, the Court must decide whether a single … Continue reading
Nate Persily in WaPo, part of an Evenwel symposium: In the end, the Evenwel appellants are asking the court to change the constitutional rules of the game just as Latinos are advancing down the field. Almost without exception, states have … Continue reading
Cincinnati Enquirer: If voters approve the ballot initiative this November, Ohio could become a nationwide leader on how to draw lines for state lawmakers’ districts, said Michael Li, an elections expert at New York University School of Law’s Brennan Center … Continue reading
Here. … Continue reading
The Prison Gerrymandering Project responds to Adam Liptak: The Evenwel plaintiffs seek to entirely exclude all non-citizens from redistricting counts, regardless of their residence in, and strong ties to, the community in which they are counted. By contrast, the plaintiffs … Continue reading
FairVote: The most recent scuffle over congressional redistricting in Virginia illustrates how poor a job single-winner districts do at achieving meaningful elections with fair results. … Continue reading
Miami Herald: In a stinging blow to opponents of the state’s anti-gerrymandering amendments, a federal court this week has thrown out a lawsuit filed by two Florida Republican Party officials who claimed the new law violated the constitution because it … Continue reading
The Texas redistricting case has been pending before a three-judge court in San Antonio for a long time. The case was filed in May 2011. Supplemental briefs had been ordered, and filed, and…. nothing. So now the plaintiffs have filed papers … Continue reading
Arizona Daily Star: The nation’s high court will hear arguments in less than two months on the legality of the state’s 30 legislative districts, setting the stage for a ruling that could realign political lines for the 2016 election. Attorney … Continue reading
Adam Liptak NYT Sidebar column on Evenewel: The American Civil Liberties Union weighed in last month on this term’s bigSupreme Court voting rights case, the one that will decide the meaning of “one person, one vote.” It took the position … Continue reading
Miami Herald: Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis on Friday rejected the Florida Legislature’s third attempt at redrawing its congressional districts and recommended a map proposed by the challengers — including a redrawn configuration of two Miami-Dade County districts — to … Continue reading
And Fisher, the affirmative action case, on December 9. Confirmed by Supreme Court posting. … Continue reading
See this press release. Marc Elias on Twitter: “I love this brief! Claims my client’s plan is a GOP partisan gerrymander. Been accused of lots, but this is a first!” … Continue reading
Eric Segall: The Supreme Court’s new Term starts today and it promises to be a blockbuster. The Justices have already agreed to hear important cases on affirmative action, public sector unions, and the death penalty, with abortion and voter ID … Continue reading
Lyle Denniston for SCOTUSBlog: The Supreme Court on Monday afternoon told lawyers involved in a new case on the constitutionality of a congressional election district in Virginia to file new briefs on whether the case can go forward in the … Continue reading
Brief of Hawaii Reapportionment Plaintiffs Fair Elections Legal Network … Continue reading
Here. … Continue reading
Following up on this listing, I have received the following additional amicus briefs (all supporting Texas): Brief of 21 state attorneys general Lawyers’ Committee New York City Texas Senators Direct Action for Rights and Equality et al. NAACP LDF … Continue reading
I’ve already linked to the Persily et al. brief. I have also received briefs from: the DNC Common Cause Harris County Brennan Center Former census bureau directors Constitutional Accountability Center ACLU Here is a list of additional briefs on the … Continue reading
It is the amicus brief of Nate Persily, Bernie Grofman, Charles Stewart, Steve Ansolabehere, and Bruce Cain. Hard to think of a better A-list of political scientists working at the intersection of election law and political science. Here is the summary … Continue reading
Politico Florida: In a private gathering during last month’s Republican Party of Florida quarterly meeting, state Rep. Janet Adkins told a group of North Florida GOP activists that the key to defeating Corrine Brown, a black Jacksonville Democrat, is boosting … Continue reading
Here, via Ballot Access News. … Continue reading
See here. … Continue reading
Richmond Times-Dispatch: A lawsuit filed Monday in Richmond Circuit Court challenges 11 of Virginia’s legislative districts, arguing that they violate the state constitution’s requirement of compactness. The suit, backed by the nonpartisan redistricting reform group OneVirginia2021, challenges six Republican-held districts … Continue reading
News and Observer editorial. … Continue reading
Read it here. … Continue reading
Baltimore Sun: A little-noticed lawsuit brought by a Maryland man challenging the state’s contorted congressional districts will be heard this fall by the Supreme Court — where it has the potential to open a new line of constitutional attack for … Continue reading
Tampa Bay Times: The legal team that uncovered the shadow redistricting process that invalidated Florida’s congressional and Senate districts didn’t rely just on maps and cloak-and-dagger emails to prove that legislators broke the law. The best clues came in the … Continue reading