Last week the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. The case revolves around the Republican-led legislatures’ challenge to a state constitutional amendment that voters passed by initiative in 2000 giving a bipartisan commission control over redrawing Arizona’s state and congressional district boundaries.
While there are some initial issues of standing, the substantive question in this case will be whether the U.S. Constitution’s Elections Clause prevents a state from transferring redistricting authority to an entity other than the legislature.
So far, there have been several early impressions of the oral argument published, many report much skepticism of the amendment establishing the commission. Many court watchers worry since a ruling in favor of the Arizona legislature could put other similarly created commissions in jeopardy.
[…] week the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. The case centers […]