U.S. Supreme Court Oral Argument Audio and Analysis of Pivotal Alabama Voting Rights Act Case

U.S. Supreme Court Oral Argument Audio and Analysis of Pivotal Alabama Voting Rights Act Case

By EditorOct 08, 2022
On Tuesday, Oct. 4, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Merrill v. Milligan regarding Alabama Congressional Redistricting. Listen to the Oral Argument on YouTube. Last January, a three-judge district court in Alabama had agreed that the state’s new congressional map likely violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. A divided Supreme Court temporarily blocked that ruling in February and after nearly two hours of oral argument on Tuesday, the justices appeared inclined to permanently set aside the district court’s ruling according to Amy Howe of SCOTUSblog. The crux of the state of Alabama's argument is that the…
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Court: New York Will Have Congressional and Senate Maps by May 20.

Court: New York Will Have Congressional and Senate Maps by May 20.

By EditorApr 29, 2022
The litigation surrounding New York's congressional and senate maps will end by May 20, according to the Stueben County appellate court. The court's announcement comes after the state's highest court invalidated both maps on Wednesday (April 27th). Here is a recap of the litigation which began in February. The litigation surrounding these two maps began in mid-February and sped through all three levels of the state court system (trial court, appellate court, and the state's highest court) in just over 2 months. While there was some disagreement among courts regarding whether the maps enacted by the legislature were the product…
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New York Redistricting Maps Thrown Out by State Trial Court. Congressional Map Declared Partisan Gerrymander

New York Redistricting Maps Thrown Out by State Trial Court. Congressional Map Declared Partisan Gerrymander

By EditorApr 01, 2022
On Thursday, Mar. 31, a New York trial court invalidated the legislature's 2022 congressional and state legislative maps. The decision was primarily grounded in the procedural requirements of New York's state constitution, which the court said the legislature violated when it adopted maps of its own after the Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) failed to produce a second set of maps. Read the opinion. According to the court, the constitutional provision creating the IRC allowed the legislature to draw maps only after the IRC submits 2 sets of maps and the legislature rejects them. The IRC deadlocked in Jan of 2022…
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U.S. Supreme Court Denies Request to Block North Carolina Court’s Congressional Map

U.S. Supreme Court Denies Request to Block North Carolina Court’s Congressional Map

By EditorMar 08, 2022
On Monday the U.S. Supreme Court denied an emergency application for a stay of the North Carolina State supreme court's decision to invalidate the congressional map that the legislature enacted in 2021 and the state trial court's decision to block a second map enacted by the legislature on February 17. If the high court had granted an emergency stay, the upcoming 2022 elections would have been conducted under the legislature's Feb. 17 map, while the court considered the case for a decision at some later date. Read the court's order. Map and Court Decision Timeline Feb. 23 2022: A state…
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Minnesota Judicial Panel Releases State’s New Congressional and Legislative Maps for the Decade

Minnesota Judicial Panel Releases State’s New Congressional and Legislative Maps for the Decade

By EditorFeb 15, 2022
On Tuesday Feb. 15, a 5-member Minnesota Judicial Branch Special Redistricting Panel formed in 2021, adopted a congressional and state legislative district map. The court released its final orders for both the congressional and legislative map and explained the panel's approach to redrawing the maps. That approach was to make as few changes as possible to satisfy legal requirements since courts must perform redistricting in a restrained manner as opposed to legislatures who have more "political authority." The court further explained "We are not positioned to draw entirely new congressional districts, as the legislature could choose to do. Rather, we…
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OH Supreme Court Rejects Ohio Commission Maps for a 2nd Time. Describes Their Efforts as “Misguided.”

By EditorFeb 07, 2022
The Ohio Supreme Court on Monday rejected a 2nd revised map of state Senate and House districts drawn by the Ohio Redistricting Commission. The first map was invalidated by the court on Jan 12. The latest maps, adopted by the commission on Jan. 22nd, still violate state constitutional provisions prohibiting maps that favor any one political party according to the court. The commission must adopt a 3rd plan and file it with the court by February 18, 2022. Read the order here. The court interprets the state constitution's proportionality standard to mean that any map should reflect the average voting…
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U.S. Supreme Court Sides with Alabama in Voting Rights Act Case Against its Congressional Map, Issues a Stay Order.

By EditorFeb 07, 2022
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday announced that it will allow Alabama to hold elections under its newly enacted congressional map despite a federal trial court's order to redraw the map to add a second majority Black district. Read the order here. In a 5-4 vote, the court granted Alabama's application for a stay from the trial court's decision invalidating the map under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). The 4 Justices in the minority would have allowed the 2022 election to go forward in Alabama with a remedial map as the three-judge trial court had ordered. Justice…
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North Carolina Supreme Court Rejects Legislature’s 2021 Redistricting Maps. Redraw Ordered.

By EditorFeb 06, 2022
On Friday, the North Carolina State Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling that upheld the legislature's 2021 congressional and state legislative maps against both racial and partisan gerrymandering claims. The court ordered the General Assembly to submit remedial maps for review to the trial court on or before Feb. 18 at 5:00 p.m. The trial court must approve or adopt compliant congressional and state legislative districting plans no later than noon on Feb. 23 2022. Read the Order. The State Supreme Court accepted and agreed with the trial court's assessment that the maps were a partisan gerrymander. The difference…
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Redistricting Headlines Jan 31 2022: 3 States Finalize Maps and Big Litigation News in 2 States.

Redistricting Headlines Jan 31 2022: 3 States Finalize Maps and Big Litigation News in 2 States.

By EditorJan 31, 2022
Last week in redistricting three states adopted maps, one state court made a decision about maps, and another court case may be heading to the nation's highest court. Map Enactments Three states enacted maps last week. On Wednesday, Jan. 26, the South Carolina legislature adopted and Gov. Henry McMaster signed a new congressional map into law. The state's legislative district map was enacted in December of last year. Maryland finalized its state legislative map on Thursday Jan. 27. The map was enacted as a joint resolution and does not require the governor's signature. Maryland's new congressional districts were adopted in a…
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Alabama Appeals Congressional Map Decision to U.S. Supreme Court

By EditorJan 28, 2022
On Friday, Jan 28, the state of Alabama filed a motion for an administrative stay to the U.S. Supreme Court as well as a request for an appeal directly to the court from Monday's ruling of a three-judge federal district court. The panel of judges had enjoined the use of the newly drawn Alabama congressional district map on its finding that the map likely violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The federal district court panel concluded last week that the congressional map should have 2 majority-Black districts (or districts in which Black voters would be able to choose…
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