Supreme Court Keeps Partisan Gerrymandering Challenge Alive in Wisconsin

By EditorJul 09, 2018

Wisconsin - Whitford v. Gill This case had been the one to watch because it offered the court an opportunity to expound on when partisan gerrymandering becomes egregious enough to violate the 14th amendment. In this case for the first time in history, a federal district court invalidated a statewide map as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. However, last week the Supreme Court, unceremoniously punted the case back by remanding it for the plaintiffs to properly show they have standing. The only thing the court did confirm in Whitford was that it would not consider 14th amendment based partisan gerrymandering challenges to…

Redistricting Gerrymanders, Redistricting Litigation, Uncategorizedpartisan gerrymandering, Supreme Court, Whitford v Gill, Wisconsin

Supreme Court Decides Procedural Issue in Maryland Partisan Gerrymandering Case

By EditorJul 09, 2018

Maryland (Benisek v. Lamone): This case was a procedural matter brought before the Supreme Court on the question of whether a federal district court should have denied a preliminary injunction against Maryland’s 2011 congressional map. The Supreme Court affirmed the lower court’s decision denying the plaintiff’s request to enjoin the use of the map for the upcoming 2018 midterm elections, noting that ruling was not an abuse of discretion. . This ruling returns the challenge back to the district court to proceed with a trial on the merits of this 1st amendment based challenge to Maryland’s sixth congressional district, a…

Redistricting Gerrymanders, Redistricting LitigationBenisek, Lamone, Maryland, partisan gerrymandering, Supreme Court

Supreme Court Mostly Befuddled in Oral Argument Over Maryland Partisan Gerrymandering Case

By EditorMar 29, 2018

Washington D.C. - This Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in one of the three partisan gerrymandering cases before the court this term (Benesik v. Lamone). The transcript is available here. In this novel first amendment challenge to Maryland's sixth congressional district, the court appears to remain befuddled at how to apply neutral standards when measuring just how much political gerrymandering is too much, although almost all of the justices seem to agree that Maryland's sixth district is "too much." (more…)

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ABC News Takes a Deeper Look at Pennsylvania’s New Congressional Map

By EditorMar 12, 2018

Pennsylvania - The state's new congressional map drawn by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court may look more esthetically pleasing to most, but it has serious political implications. Watch ABC News sum up what the new map does to the partisan balance in Pennsylvania.

Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanderscongressional, featured, League of Women Voters of PA, PA State Supreme Court, partisan gerrymandering, Pennsylvania

State Supreme Court Redraws Pennsylvania Congressional Map

By EditorFeb 22, 2018

Pennsylvania - This January, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled the state's congressional map was an unconstitutional gerrymander. The plaintiffs had alleged the map is an eggregious partisan gerrymander executed by Republican state lawmakers that allowed Republicans to win 72% of the state's congressional delegation with just 50% of the vote. Here is the new map that court quickly adopted after the PA. state legislature failed to meet its deadline to agree and enact a replacement map. Read more at NBCnews, Washington Post, and New York Times.

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Redistricting Weekly Update : Atlases and Mathematicians in the Fray

By EditorJan 29, 2018

The FiveThirtyEight Blog Releases the Atlas of Redistricting, The Maps are Impressive but Unusable FiveThirtyEight takes a comprehensive look at the mapping possibilities for every congressional district in the nation. None of the maps would pass legal muster though. At best, the Atlas of Redistricting is a rough thought experiment that can give us a good idea of what different redistricting priorities produce on a map - - just in very very broad brushstrokes. read more. Pennsylvania Republicans appeal congressional map partisan gerrymander decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. In a long-shot bid, Republicans appeal the state supreme court's decision…

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The FiveThirtyEight Blog Releases the Atlas of Redistricting. The Maps are Impressive but Unusable

By EditorJan 28, 2018

This week, the sports and politics polling blog FiveThirtyEight released its Atlas of Redistricting. It takes a comprehensive look at the mapping possibilities for every congressional district in the nation, and is part of the site’s Gerrymandering Project, which seeks to uncover in their words, “[what] is greatly misunderstood . . .” about redistricting and whether “gerrymandering can (or should be) killed.” The maps are impressive. They produce congressional maps for seven common, but vastly different redistricting goals. The result is that you get to see what your (or any) state’s congressional map would like if it were drawn…

Equal Protection, FEATURES, Redistricting, Redistricting GerrymandersAtlas of Redistricting, congress, congressional, featured, fivethirtyeight, gerrymandering, legal, maps, partisan gerrymandering

A Quick History of North Carolina Redistricting Litigation Post 2010

By EditorJan 22, 2018

North Carolina - The redistricting process in North Carolina has the makings of a classic thriller. There are twists, turns, politics, intrigue, and edge of your seat courtroom drama. Not to mention the crazy quilt of maps. Here is an overview of what has happened so far in this state’s district drawing saga. (more…)

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U.S. Supreme Court Stays Lower Court Order to Redraw North Carolina Congressional Map

By EditorJan 19, 2018

North Carolina - This just in. The U.S. Supreme Court has stayed a lower court order to redraw North Carolina's congressional districts. That court recently found the North Carolina map to be an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander and ordered that the map be redrawn in time for the 2018 elections. Does this mean the court will likely overturn this case in the end? (more…)

Redistricting Gerrymanderscongressional, featured, North Carolina, northcarolina, partisan gerrymandering, scotus, Supreme Court

Highlights from State Supreme Court Oral Argument in Pennsylvania Congressional Map Challenge

By EditorJan 18, 2018

Pennsylvania - On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court heard oral arguments in one of the challenges to the state's 2011 congressional map. The case, League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania (LWV) v. Pennsylvania General Assembly, alleges the map is an eggregious partisan gerrymander executed by Republican state lawmakers that allowed Republicans to win 72% of the state's congressional delegation with just 50% of the vote. Here are the highlights from the oral arument, which lasted just over 2 hours: (more…)

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