The U.S. Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision and upheld West Virginia’s 2011 congressional map with population deviations between districts of .79 percent.
Tennant v. Jefferson County, No. 11-1184, 567 U.S. 758 (Sep. 25, 2012)
The Jefferson County Commission and residents of Jefferson County alleged that West Virginia’s 2011 congressional plan violated the “one-person, one-vote” principle of Article I, § 2, of the U.S. Constitution. West Virginia created a redistricting plan that had a maximum population deviation of 0.79 percent (the variance between the smallest and largest districts). The State conceded that it could have made a plan with less deviation, but that other traditional redistricting principles such as not splitting counties, avoiding contests between incumbents, and preserving the cores of prior districts were legitimate state objectives. The district court held that “the State’s asserted objectives did not justify the population variance.” The U.S. Supreme Court held that the legislature did provide a sufficient record connecting the State’s interests and the necessary deviation needed to sustain those interests. The court reversed and remanded the case to the district court.
The federal district court then dismissed the case, without prejudice to refiling in the appropriate state court because the case raised “novel and complex issues of West Virginia law.” Jefferson County v. Tennant, No. 2:11-cv-0989 at 4 (S.D. W. Va. Jan. 25, 2013).
2010 Redistricting Case Summaries, NCSL (Petter Watson)
