Redistricting Reform Advocates Strategize at Gerrymandering Summit

Redistricting Reform Advocates Strategize at Gerrymandering Summit

By EditorJan 22, 2019
The USC Sol Price School of Public Policy hosted the "Terminate Gerrymandering Summit and Fair Maps Incubator " Conference earlier this month as part of an effort to take advantage of the momentum that independent redistricting commission movements have created across the country with several states passing ballot initiatives to create "California Style" commissions. . The project is the brainchild of former CA governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The institute on campus that bears his name hosted this event at which he was the keynote speaker. Schwarzenegger explains that he wants to "accelerate the fight, bringing together those who’ve won nonpartisan redistricting…
NEWS, Redistricting Commissions, Redistricting Gerrymanders, REFORM, Strategy and Politics, ,
Read More
Federal Court Rejects a Citizenship Question for the 2020 Census

Federal Court Rejects a Citizenship Question for the 2020 Census

By EditorJan 15, 2019
A New York federal district court has rejected the administration's bid to place a citizenship question on the upcoming 2020 census. The U.S. Department of Commerce, which is the main defendant in the lawsuit, will most likely appeal this decision but this just deepens the legal, financial and operational challenges that the Census Bureau must endure just under 15 months away from the 2020 census, the data from which, states and local governments will use to redraw electoral lines. NPR lists the possible effects that the current government shutdown and this lawsuit will have on census 2020 planning here. Read…
Census Data and Geography, DATA and TECHNOLOGY, LATEST, LAW, NEWS, Redistricting, Redistricting Litigation, Strategy and Politics, , , , , ,
Read More
Are Redistricting Commissions in Danger?

Are Redistricting Commissions in Danger?

By Michelle DavisJan 09, 2019
Arizona, California and more recently, Ohio are among the handful of states that have established independent redistricting commissions by ballot measures. The U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld a challenge to Arizona's commission, but at least one election law expert warns that the court may reverse itself on this question in the future. Rick Hasen, Professor of law and political science at the University of California, Irvine believes this is a real possibility. Read the article in the Atlantic.
FEATURES, POLICY and PRACTICE, Redistricting, Redistricting Commissions, REFORM, , ,
Read More
MD and NC Partisan Gerrymandering Cases Return to the U.S. Supreme Court

MD and NC Partisan Gerrymandering Cases Return to the U.S. Supreme Court

By Michelle DavisJan 08, 2019
On January 4th, the U.S. Supreme Court took up two long-standing partisan gerrymandering challenges on appeal from two federal district courts; one in Maryland and the other in North Carolina.  The question in both of these cases was not whether there was partisan gerrymandering in the making of these maps. Instead it was whether this type of partisan gerrymandering is constitutional or not.  The high court has seemed to duck and weave whenever it has been presented with this question in the past, but this time it feels different. Below is a little background to provide some context for the…
LAW, NEWS, Partisan Gerrymandering, Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanders, Uncategorized, , , , , , ,
Read More
Maryland’s Sixth District Ruled a Partisan Gerrymander by Federal District Court

Maryland’s Sixth District Ruled a Partisan Gerrymander by Federal District Court

By Michelle DavisNov 14, 2018
On November 7th, after managing a protracted series of procedural issues involving a lawsuit that was initially filed in 2013, a federal district court panel invalidated Maryland's 6th congressional district on grounds that it was an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander.  Maryland has until early March 2019 to enact a new congressional map or the court will create its own commission to do so. This case is notable since the court overturned the map on 1st amendment grounds instead of the 14th amendment, which until recently had been the basis for most if not all partisan gerrymandering challenges. (more…)
LAW, NEWS, Partisan Gerrymandering, Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanders, Redistricting Litigation, Uncategorized, , , , , , , ,
Read More
Supreme Court Declines to Hear Pennsylvania Republican’s Congressional Map Appeal

Supreme Court Declines to Hear Pennsylvania Republican’s Congressional Map Appeal

By Michelle DavisNov 01, 2018
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari to Republican lawmakers in the Pennsylvania legislature after a January ruling by the Pa. State Supreme Court invalidating the congressional map enacted by the body in 2011.  (more…)
LAW, NEWS, Partisan Gerrymandering, POLICY and PRACTICE, Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanders, Redistricting Litigation, State Laws, , , , , , ,
Read More
Listen to the NCSL Webinar on Recent Supreme Court Gerrymandering Decisions

Listen to the NCSL Webinar on Recent Supreme Court Gerrymandering Decisions

By EditorJul 24, 2018
Last week the National Conference of State Legislatures hosted this webinar on the recent Supreme Court Partisan Gerrymandering decisions.  You can watch/listen below.  The discussion gives good insight into the current posture of the litigation in Wisconsin and Maryland and other states.  (more…)
FEATURES, LAW, POLICY and PRACTICE, Redistricting Gerrymanders, Redistricting Litigation, Redistricting Prep, , , , , ,
Read More

Concerns about the Cyber-Security of the 2020 Census Elevate

By EditorJul 24, 2018
The Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at the Georgetown University Law Center has sent a signed letter to the Secretary of Commerce and the Acting Directer of the U.S. Census Bureau requesting assurances that the upcoming decennial census will be accurate and secure given heightened threats in the cyber-security environment.  (more…)
DATA and TECHNOLOGY, Redistricting, , , ,
Read More