Supreme Court

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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December Redistricting Update

By EditorJan 04, 2021

December was all about the apportionment numbers when it comes to redistricting news. Let's get you up-to-date. White House Memo on Excluding “Aliens” from the Official Apportionment Count The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Trump v. New York on Nov. 30 pursuant to an expedited schedule given that the U.S. Census Bureau had a Dec 31 statutory deadline to report the official state population counts to be used for apportioning U.S. House seats among the states. Just before Christmas, the court released a per curiam opinion declining to decide the issue on technical grounds. The issue being whether…

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The Supreme Court’s Less Than Graceful Exit from the Thicket

By Michelle DavisJun 27, 2019

The long-awaited partisan gerrymandering decision has come down from the nation's highest court. A 5-4 majority decided to exit the "political thicket" and leave the policing of political gerrymandered redistricting maps to the States, commissions, congress; anybody, except the nine of them. Below are brief excerpts (with explanation) from the both the majority opinion and a passionate dissent from Justice Kagan in the consolidated cases of Lamone v. Benisek, ET Al. (Maryland) and Rucho v. Common Cause, ET Al. (North Carolina). Read the entire case here. The Court: Partisan gerrymandering claims present political questions beyond the reach of the federal…

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Listen to Supreme Court Oral Argument in the Maryland Partisan Gerrymandering Case

By Michelle DavisApr 25, 2019

On March 26, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Benesik v. Lamone, a partisan gerrymandering case from Maryland. Click here for background on this case and its companion case, Rucho v. Common Cause (North Carolina). For a pre oral symposium hosted by SCOTUSBlog, click here. Click here to listen to oral argument for Rucho v. Common Cause.

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Listen to Supreme Court Oral Arguments in the North Carolina Partisan Gerrymandering Case

By Michelle DavisApr 25, 2019

On March 26, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Rucho v. Common Cause, a partisan gerrymandering case from North Carolina.Click here for background on this case and its companion case, Benesik v. Lamone (Maryland). For a pre oral symposium hosted by ScotusBlog, click here. Click here to listen to oral argument in its companion case, Benesik v. Lamone.

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SCOTUSblog Symposium in Anticipation of Oral Arguments in Partisan Gerrymandering Cases

By Michelle DavisFeb 25, 2019

. The Supreme Court will hear oral argument in two key partisan gerrymandering cases on March 26; one from Maryland (Benesik v. Lamone) and one from North Carolina (Rucho v. Common Cause). In preparation for these arguments, the editors at SCOTUSblog hosted this pre-argument symposium featuring a group of experts on redistricting law. Here is a quick summary of each contributor's essay. You can click to read each article in full. . Justin Levitt: Suggests that the unconstitutionality of excessive partisan gerrymandering follows from the fact that there is widespread agreement (in the legal community) that any State law that…

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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, REFORMArizona, Independent Redistricting Commission, scotus, 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…

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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…)

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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…)

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