Today, Common Cause joined an ideologically diverse group of governors, members of Congress, local government leaders, and others in filing amicus briefs urging the Supreme Court to put an end to partisan gerrymandering. On March 28, the Court will hear arguments in Benisek v. Lamone, a First Amendment challenge to Maryland’s Sixth Congressional District, which Democrats drew after the 2010 census in a successful attempt to defeat a longtime Republican incumbent. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of the plaintiffs, it could result in a nationwide prohibition against the manipulation of legislative boundaries for political advantage.
In addition to its own brief, Common Cause coordinated multiple amici briefs by a bipartisan group of members of the U.S. House of Representatives, current and former Democratic and Republican Governors, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Kasich, Gray Davis and Larry Hogan, and another by local government leaders.