Idaho: Review of Litigation in the 2010 Redistricting Cycle

Idaho: Review of Litigation in the 2010 Redistricting Cycle

By EditorMar 09, 2021
In 2012, the Idaho Supreme Court Invalidated the legislative map adopted by Idaho Commission on Redistricting on state constitutional grounds. Twin Falls County v. Idaho Comm’n on Redistricting, No. 39373, 2012, 271 P.3d 1202 (Idaho 2012). This case involves a state constitutional challenge to the legislative apportionment plan adopted by the Idaho Commission on Redistricting. Plaintiffs argued the plan adopted by the commission violated art. III, § 5, of the Idaho Constitution, which states that “a county may be divided in creating districts only to the extent it is reasonably determined by statute that counties must be divided to create senatorial…
NEWS, Redistricting Litigation, State Laws
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South Carolina: Review of Litigation in the 2010 Redistricting Cycle

South Carolina: Review of Litigation in the 2010 Redistricting Cycle

By EditorMar 09, 2021
South Carolina was involved in one major challenge to its congressional and state legislative maps adopted after the 2010 census. A federal trial court declined to invalidate the maps despite the plaintiff's claims of racial gerrymandering and Voting Rights Act (VRA) violations. Interestingly, the trial court's decision came shortly before the Supreme Court's decision in Shelby County, which drastically changed how racial considerations are viewed by courts under Section 5 of the VRA. Backus v. South Carolina, No. 3:11-cv-3120 (D.S.C. Mar. 9, 2012), aff’d, No. 11-1404 (U.S. Oct. 1, 2012) (mem.) Registered voters in South Carolina challenged the General Assembly’s state and congressional redistricting plans…
NEWS, Redistricting Litigation
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Ohio Fires First Salvo in Court Over Delayed Census Redistricting Data

By EditorMar 01, 2021
On Thursday, Ohio became the first state to sue the U.S. Census Bureau over late redistricting data. After the Bureau announced it would delay the release of the data on the statutory deadline of March 31, postponing release to Sept 30, the Ohio Attorney General filed suit in federal district court to request data delivery for Ohio either on the statutory date or on the earliest date possible. The complaint challenges the decision of the Census Bureau to delay data delivery to the States due to processing delays caused by Covid-19 and its focus on delivering apportionment data to the…
Case Updates, Casedocs, Redistricting, Redistricting Litigation, , , ,
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Minnesota Lawsuit Asks Court to Get a Jump on State Redistricting

By EditorMar 01, 2021
The delayed census redistricting data delivery schedule has put many states in a bind as they run up against state constitutional and statutory deadlines for redistricting. In Minnesota, the deadline for drawing a congressional map is in February of 2022, but the state has a decades-long history of not accomplishing the task. A new lawsuit filed in state court seeks to get ahead of the problem. According to the lawsuit filed on the 19th, the situation is dire. Population projections indicate that the state may lose a congressional seat in the upcoming apportionment scheduled to be released later this Spring.…
Case Updates, Casedocs, NEWS, Redistricting, Redistricting Equal Population, Redistricting Litigation, , ,
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CA Redistricting Commission Reviewing Applications for Litigation Team and Voting Rights Counsel

CA Redistricting Commission Reviewing Applications for Litigation Team and Voting Rights Counsel

By Michelle DavisFeb 17, 2021
The voting rights act counsel would provide legal support to the Commission, staff and consultants regarding the redistricting process, including the review of proposed district maps; development, use and analysis of Racially Polarized Voting (“RPV”) data, preparation of legal memoranda and general legal advice to the Commission. The commission is also seeking a litigation team in the event that any or all of its redistricting maps (Congressional, and State Senate, Assembly, and Board of Equalization) are challenged in state or federal court. To that end, the commission is seeking is seeking “statements of qualifications” (SOQ) from attorneys, including law firms…
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U.S. Supreme Court Decides Not to Decide Illegal Immigrant Apportionment Case

By EditorDec 18, 2020
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this week that the White House request to the Census Bureau to modify the population count to exclude undocumented immigrants was not ripe. The per curiam opinion explained that it was premature to resolve the issue of whether the order was constitutional since there were no apportionment numbers available at the time of the oral argument and there was no certainty how the Bureau would implement the memorandum. The wording of the memorandum ordering the Census Bureau to modify the population count gave considerable latitude to officials regarding how and to what extent it would…
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Listen: Supreme Court Oral Argument in Trump Apportionment / Citizenship Case

By EditorDec 01, 2020
On Monday the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Trump v. New York. This case challenged an executive memo directing the Census Bureau to report official congressional apportionment data so that it excludes the count of non-citizens. For an in-depth analysis of the arguments, read SCOTUSBlog.com's report. Most expert observers say the court seemed preoccupied with the "ripeness" of the issue, or in layman's parlance - whether or not the administration has done anything yet that could possibly violate a statute or the constitution. Listen to the audio below. https://youtu.be/ePChyVCpI6A
Case Updates, Census Data and Geography, Census Law, LATEST, LAW, Redistricting, Redistricting Litigation, VIDEO, , , , , , ,
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CA Federal Court Panel Invalidates Presidential Order to Exclude “Illegal Aliens” from Apportionment Count

By EditorOct 26, 2020
On Thursday (Oct. 22) a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (San Jose Division) issued a final order and opinion invalidating the president's July memorandum that ordered census apportionment numbers exclude undocumented immigrants. A copy of the opinion is here. A federal district court in New York was the first to invalidate the July memorandum in September. That case has been scheduled for oral argument before the Supreme Court on November 30th. The San Jose court declared the presidential memorandum a "violation of the Apportionment and Enumeration Clauses of Article I, Section 2…
Case Updates, Census Law, LATEST, LAW, NEWS, Redistricting, Redistricting Litigation, , , ,
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Supreme Court Schedules November Oral Argument in Undocumented Immigrant Apportionment Case

By EditorOct 19, 2020
On Friday, the Supreme Court announced it would expedite an appeal by the Trump administration after a lower district court halted the administration’s plan to exclude people who are in the country illegally from the official apportionment count numbers used in allocating seats in the House of Representatives. Read a synopsis below. Oral arguments are scheduled for November 30, just one month before the statutory deadline for delivering the apportionment numbers to the president.It is not clear if the Census Bureau will be able to meet the December 31 deadline for delivering apportionment numbers, nor is it clear how it…
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Supreme Court Stays Lower Court Restraining Order, Allows Census Counting to End Early

By EditorOct 14, 2020
On Sept. 24th the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction that enjoined the U.S. Census Bureau from ending its counting operations on September 30, extending the time to Oct 31. The Supreme Court issued a stay of this order last Tuesday allowing for census counting to end on Oct. 15. The order included a lone dissent from Justice Sotomayer noting " the government has not satisfied its “especially heavy burden to justify a stay pending appeal of the lower court’s injunction." Read coverage on CNN, NYT, CNBC, and Politico.
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