Maryland Judge Orders Legislative Leaders to Testify in Partisan Gerrymandering Case

By EditorFeb 02, 2017

Maryland - Nearly four years after Bethesda, Md. resident Stephen M. Shapiro and other Maryland voters filed a partisan gerrymandering lawsuit against Maryland's congressional district map, a judge has ordered the Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates and the President of the Maryland Senate to testify in the case and turn over documents, rejecting claims of legislative privilege. Shapiro's case has wound its way through the courts from its initial filing in 2013, you can read the original complaint here. A district court judge dismissed the case but Shapiro won his appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled…

NEWS, POLICY and PRACTICE, Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanders, Redistricting Litigationcongressional, lpother, lpstatelaw, Maryland, partisan gerrymandering, redistricting, Shapiro, States, Supreme Court

Supreme Court Orders Stay in North Carolina Redistricting Case

By EditorJan 11, 2017

Washington DC - The full text of the order is below: TUESDAY, JANUARY 10, 2017 ORDER IN PENDING CASE 16A646 NORTH CAROLINA, ET AL. V. SANDRA LITTLE COVINGTON, ET AL. The application for stay of the order of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, case No. 1:15-CV-399, entered on November 29, 2016, presented to The Chief Justice and by him referred to the Court is granted, pending the timely filing of a statement as to jurisdiction. Should such statement be timely filed, this order shall remain in effect pending this Court’s action on…

NEWS, Race in Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymanders, Redistricting Race RulesNorth Carolina, northcarolina, redistricting, scotus, Supreme Court

Briefs on Timing of a Remedy Filed in Wisconsin Partisan Gerrymandering Case

By EditorJan 08, 2017

Wisconsin - A federal district court last November found Wisconsin's 2011 Republican-drawn state assembly map to be an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. That almost never happens. (more…)

Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymandersefficiency gap, partisan gerrymandering, Supreme Court, Wisconsin

NPR and Scotusblog Recap Oral Arguments in Racial Gerrymandering Case

By EditorDec 06, 2016

Wash. DC - NPR's Nina Totenberg recaps Supreme Court oral arguments in , Bethune-Hill v. Virginia State Board of Elections and McCrory v. Harris; the racial gerrymandering claims arising from the Virginia state legislative and the North Carolina congressional map, which were heard on Monday. Click below for audio. Read Scotusblog's analysis here.

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NPR Talks with Law Profs About Racial Gerrymandering in the Supreme Court

By EditorDec 06, 2016

Wash. DC - NPR's Nina Totenberg discusses the North Carolina racial gerrymandering claim to be heard today before the U.S. Supreme Court. Totenberg chats with Stanford law professor Nathaniel Persily and Richard Hasen of University of California Irvine about the two congressional districts in dispute and how the court has dealt with similar claims in the past. Click below.

Racial Gerrymandering, Redistricting, Redistricting Gerrymandersfeatured, gerrymandering, lawindepth, North Carolina, Persily, racial gerrymandering, Supreme Court, washington dc

Packing Minorities Into Districts. When Is That Ever Okay?

By EditorDec 05, 2016

Washington DC - The Supreme Court will tackle that question today as it hears oral arguments in two redistricting cases. Both cases are alleged racial gerrymander claims; one orginating from Virginia's state legislative map and the other from North Carolina's congressional district map. (more…)

Race in Redistricting, Racial Gerrymandering, Redistricting, Redistricting Litigation, Redistricting Race Rules, Voting Rights Actgerrymandering, lawindepth, legal, lpvra, North Carolina, racial gerrymandering, scotus, Supreme Court, Virginia, Voting Rights Act, washington dc

Gerrymandering Explained by MTV

By EditorMay 12, 2016

How does MTV explain gerrymandering to its core audience? With Oreo cookies of course. Other snacks are used to portray how students in a class my divided based on their common snack interests. The analogy leaves out crucial one-person one-vote issues, but provides a quick visual into the electoral map-drawing process. Despite the shaky electoral analogies, the article discusses fairness issues in map-drawing and the role of commissions and ballot initiatives. Interestingly, the article reports on an initiative in North Carolina to demonstrate "good-government" redistricting via a panel of retired judges who will redraw the states' electoral map. This mock commission is…

Redistricting, Redistricting GerrymandersEvenwel, gerrymandering, MTV, North Carolina, Supreme Court

Evenwel SCOTUS Decision News and Analysis Round Up

By EditorApr 05, 2016

The first round of media, academia and policy wonks have weighed in on the somewhat surprising unanimous decision by the Supreme Court this week in the much anticipated equal population case Evenwel v. Abbott. Here is the News Analysis Round-up: How A Challenge to Legislative Redistricting Backfired. The Atlantic CVAP (Citizens of Voting Age Population) Lives to Fight Another Day. Forbes The Supreme Court upheld ‘one person, one vote.’ But don’t expect the battle over counting Americans to end. Wash. Post Analysis: In Texas Case, Supreme Court Rules Nonvoters are People, Too. Texas Tribune District Fight May…

RedistrictingEvenwel, Supreme Court, Texas, washington dc

Supreme Court Decides “Evenwel” Equal Population Case: Read the Opinion

By EditorApr 04, 2016

Wash. DC - The Supreme Court just released its opinion in Evenwel v. Abott, a challenge to redistricting based on "total population" versus eligible or registered voters. Read the pre-decision discussion here. Redistricting expert Nathaniel Persily's brief is here. Listen to the Supreme Court oral argument here. The court flatly ruled against requiring redrawn districts to equalize voting eligible populations and noted the founding fathers acceptance of "total population" as an appropriate denominator. In the words of the Court: "Settled practice confirms what constitutional history and prior decisions strongly suggest. Adopting voter-eligible apportionment asconstitutional command would upset a well-functioning approach todistricting…

Casedocs, Redistricting, Redistricting LitigationEvenwel, Supreme Court

An 8 Member Supreme Court Could Be a Boon to Minority Voting Rights

By EditorMar 24, 2016

The late Justice Scalia was "no friend" to voting rights, and his absence could mean the court deadlocks on upcoming decisions regarding redistricting, voter ID, one-man one vote, and more. This just isn't about cases either, the court takes various requests for interlocutory orders, which can have significant effects on an election. Josh Gerstein of Politico explains here.

Redistricting, Redistricting Litigationscalia, Supreme Court, washington dc