congressional

NY Court Orders Redistricting Commission to Draw a “Second” Congressional Map

By EditorJul 13, 2023

Today New York's Supreme Court, Appellate Division directed the state's Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) to submit a second congressional map to comply with the NY State Constitution. This decision (with 2 of 5 judges on the panel dissenting) will likely be appealed to the state's highest court. A state court has already required the IRC to draw and submit a second state house map after its initial failure to agree on any state redistricting map in January of 2022. Read the court's opinion here. From the court opinion: "The IRC had an indisputable duty under the NY Constitution to submit…

Case Updates, Casedocs, HOME, LATEST, NEWS, Redistricting, Redistricting Commissions, Redistricting Litigationcongressional, Entities, IN-DEPTH, lpstatelaw, new york, redistricting commissions

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…)

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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.

NEWS, Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanders, State Lawscongressional, featured, League of Women Voters of PA, PA State Supreme Court, partisan gerrymandering, Pennsylvania

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…

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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…)

Partisan Gerrymandering, Racial Gerrymandering, Redistricting Gerrymanders, Redistricting Litigationcongressional, featured, house, legal, maps, North Carolina, northcarolina, partisan gerrymandering, racial gerrymandering, senate, special master, state legislature, Supreme Court

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…)

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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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Listen: Supreme Court Oral Argument in Wisconsin Partisan Gerrymandering Case Whitford v. Gill

By EditorJan 14, 2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLu61vk-kns&t=102s The case is a challenge to Wisconsin's state legislative district map. It 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.

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