Leading Expert in Redistricting “Grofman,” Suggests a Path to Proving Partisan Gerrymandering

Bernard Grofman, author, professor at the University of California at Irvine, and an expert witness in a multitude of redistricting cases, published this article in the Washington Post today.  In it Grofman offers a way for courts to assess the level of partisan gerrymandering on a district-by-district basis when the challenge is based on the 14th amendment.  His assessment is timely, given the Supreme Court's recent decision in Gill v. Whitford, which rejected challenges to a map as a whole.  See our discussion of that here.  Grofman points to the court's line of racial gerrymandering cases as a guide and…
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ABC News Takes a Deeper Look at Pennsylvania’s New Congressional Map

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

  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.
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State Supreme Court Redraws Pennsylvania Congressional Map

State Supreme Court Redraws Pennsylvania Congressional Map

  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

Redistricting Weekly Update : Atlases and Mathematicians in the Fray

  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

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

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

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

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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An Update on the Partisan Gerrymander Case Everyone is Talking About

An Update on the Partisan Gerrymander Case Everyone is Talking About

Wisconsin - It's the case that all the legal and social science geeks have been eyeing for months now.  It offers maybe the best chance for the Supreme Court to finally find a partisan gerrymander that goes too far, something it has considered over the years, but has never done.  This would be a first.  (more…)
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Watch: UW Professor Reviews Wisconsin Partisan Gerrymandering Case in Detail

Watch: UW Professor Reviews Wisconsin Partisan Gerrymandering Case in Detail

This challenge to Wisconsin's state legislative district map alleges the Wisconsin state assembly drew politically gerrymandered districts to entrench Republican power in 2011.  Plaintiffs claim the gerrymander was so egregious, it violated the first and 14th amendments.  A federal district court panel invalidated the map on those grounds in 2016. Video: UW Professor David Canon gives a detailed overview (40mins) of the case last Fall just before the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyLQBn-C8MM
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Everything You Wanted to Know About the Wisconsin Partisan Gerrymandering Case in One Infographic

Everything You Wanted to Know About the Wisconsin Partisan Gerrymandering Case in One Infographic

  If you have been meaning to do a Google search and read up on the partisan gerrymandering case over Wisconsin's state legislative district map, but you don't have the 3 hours you will need to bone up on just what "partisan gerrymandering" is and why it might be illegal, here is the infographic for you.  You will be up to snuff before lunch is done. Courtesy of the Brown Political Review:    
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Federal Court: North Carolina Congressional Districts Illegal Partisan Gerrymander

Federal Court: North Carolina Congressional Districts Illegal Partisan Gerrymander

North Carolina - On January 9th, a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina ruled that the state's 2016 Plan violates the Equal Protection Clause, the First Amendment, and Article I of the Constitution.  Survey the news coverage. (more…)
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