On January 3, 2012, the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia ruled in favor of the commissioners, finding that the map was unconstitutional. On July 20, 2011, the legislature approved a congressional redistricting plan, which was signed into law by Governor Scott Walker on August 9, 2011. In the U.S.? Racial gerrymandering was forbidden, and states with a history of discrimination at the polls had to get clearance from the Justice Department before changing voting laws or drawing new maps. Rep. David Lewis (R) and Sen. Ralph Hise (R), the chairmen of their chambers' respective redistricting committees, issued a statement criticizing Persily's recommendations: "By making many changes Democrats demanded, Mr. Persily has confirmed our worst suspicions: this entire judicial process is little more than a thinly-veiled political operation where unelected judges, legislating from the bench, strip North Carolinians of their constitutional right to self-governance by appointing a left-wing California professor to draw districts handing Democrats control of legislative seats they couldnt win at the ballot box." The breakdown of states that won and lost new seats as a result of congressional reapportionment are as follows:[2], Michael McDonald, of George Mason University, used census data to determine which state legislative districts were most underpopulated and most overpopulated as of the 2010 census. But check out what happens if we draw the districts this way. It determines which party controls Congress and state and local governments across the country. On May 18, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Im confident, and most of the lawyers who practice in this area [of law] are confident that the [U.S.] Supreme Court, when they look at the case, because it has been appealed up there, will uphold the findings of the federal court that this is unconstitutional. Although Democrats lost the majority five months later, they were able, in the meantime, to compel law firm Michael Best and Friedrich to turn over files related to the 2011 redistricting cycle (Republicans tasked with drafting new maps in 2011 worked out of the Michael Best and Friedrich office in Madison, Wisconsin). The maps' opponents alleged that the 2013 maps, like the original maps adopted in the wake of the 2010 United States Census, unconstitutionally diluted the voting rights of racial minority groups. This time, lets say the Blue party enjoys 64 percent support statewide, and the Red party 36 percent. SB 691 cleared the House on August 30, 2017, and was enacted into law. [81][35], On June 13, 2018, attorneys for Democratic voters in three states (Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana) filed three separate lawsuits in federal court, alleging in each that existing congressional district maps prevented black voters from electing candidates of their choosing, in violation of the Voting Rights Act. The plaintiffs appealed this decision to the Missouri Supreme Court, which ordered the trial court to reconsider the case. While the basic mission is simple ensuring equitable representation there are some rules of the road. On April 13, 2018, a panel of state superior court judges denied the plaintiffs' request for a stay against the challenged maps. Consequently, the state's courts were asked to intervene and adopt a new congressional map. In the challengers' view, this approach foreclosed a holistic analysis of each district and led the District Court to give insufficient weight to the 55 percent [black voting age population] target and other relevant evidence that race predominated. Voters approved the maps as drawn by the legislature. Accordingly, we conclude that leave to amend would be futile. A number of lawsuits followed, including Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. For more information on the court's decision, see here. They are also hiring! [103], On April 25, 2019, the court ruled unanimously that 34 congressional and state legislative districts had been subject to unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering, violating the plaintiffs' First Amendment associational rights. For the 2010 redistricting cycle, this law established a 2013 deadline, meaning that the 2012 election would have taken place under district maps drawn in the 2000 redistricting cycle. Districts shall not be drawn to deny racial or language minorities the equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect representatives of their choice. Redistricting became much fairer once a pair of Supreme Court rulings in the 1960s required districts to have equal population. On May 30, 2011, the Illinois House of Representatives approved a congressional redistricting plan. The opponents also argued that the challengers had little chance of getting the 2012 plan upheld by the Justices. Districts must have approximately equal populations. This case is brought under the Elections Clause of Article I of the United States Constitution, which is a novel legal claim, asserting the 2011 map redistricting Pennsylvania's congressional districts was in violation of the United States Constitution. Lawmakers can take into account political considerations and election data when drawing districts. The high court ruled 5-4, with Chief Justice John Roberts penning the majority opinion, joined by Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh. Oral arguments in the case were heard on March 9, 2018. '"[315][317], On March 31, 2017, in a separate state-level case, Richmond Circuit Judge W. Reilly Marchant ruled that the contested districts did not violate state constitutional requirements for district compactness. If Republicans in Georgia try to crack or pack predominantly Black districts, they could argue that their intent is merely partisan, not racist. Districts determine which voters participate in which elections. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Goosby v. Osser that a single-judge panel will suffice if the claim presented to the court is considered to be "insubstantial. Alabama. There were no noted dissents in the order. The court ruled 2-1 on the matter. Redistricting is the process by which new congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn. 1) Redistricting A) happens every 4 years. Judges Allyson Duncan and Liam O'Grady wrote the court's opinion. The new map makes lesser changes to the districts of three other Republicans, Reps. Lawyers representing Republican members of Congress from Virginia had warned that, without a delay, candidates would have to run two-front campaigns in five districts, running in both the districts as composed by the legislature and the new districts drawn up by the lower court. The plaintiffs petitioned the Supreme Court to expedite the case. Redistricting appears to be unconstitutional. Another process directly linked to the census is reapportionment, which occurs primarily at the federal level. [334], Peter Barca (D), the minority leader of the Wisconsin State Assembly, said, "This is an historic victory for voters and further admonishment of the extremely slanted maps that trample the democratic will of the people of Wisconsin." [121][122], Following the 2010 United States Census, New Mexico neither gained nor lost congressional seats. In Michigan, the public already did the hard work, amending the Michigan Constitution through a successful ballot initiative! However, because redistricting directly affects The court ordered that District 3 be redrawn in light of this ruling. In its ruling, the court wrote the following:[157][158], State Representative David Lewis (R) and State Senator Bob Rucho (R) issued a press release on November 29, 2016, criticizing the order:>, The North Carolina Democratic Party (NCDP) voiced its support of the special elections following the federal order:[159], On December 30, 2016, Republican legislators petitioned the United States Supreme Court to intervene and stay (i.e., suspend) the district court's decision. I do that with some reluctance because I could use all the help that I can get in making this decision." These criteria included the following:[165][166][167], State Democrats criticized some of these criteria. State lawmakers had proposed a November 15, 2017, deadline; the court ruled that this "deadline would interfere with the ability of potential candidates to prepare for the upcoming 2018 election. Many states have other criteria: keeping districts geographically contiguous and compact, ensuring that elections will be competitive, or safeguarding partisan fairness so districts reflect statewide voting trends rather than giving one political party an unearned advantage. It is 75, not 84. The lawmakers argued that implementation of this map would result in "electoral chaos" and "mass voter confusion." With the seventh ruling of intentional discrimination since 2011, a federal court confirmed today that Texas congressional maps remain unconstitutional." . Third, Plaintiffs' Elections Clause claim is an unjustifiable attempt to skirt existing Supreme Court precedent. PDF POWER - NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Justice Anthony Kennedy penned the court's majority opinion, which was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan. Now, lets draw a map that helps the Red party. [118][35], Due to the stalemate between the governor and the state legislature, it fell to the courts to the draw the district boundaries. The panel, comprising Judges Paul C. Ridgeway, Joseph N. Crosswhite, and Alma L. Hinton, while noting that the plaintiffs had "demonstrated a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits of their claims," said issuing a stay at this juncture "would interrupt voting by citizens already underway. [35], On July 29, 2011, the Arkansas Board of Apportionment approved new state legislative district maps. The maps were signed into law on August 24, 2011. If political motivation is improper, then the task of redistricting should be constitutionally assigned to some other body, a change in law we lack any authority to effect. [291][292], Following the 2010 United States Census, Utah gained one congressional seat. Ask the Expert: What is redistricting, and how does it - MSUToday The Blue party controls redistricting and does not want to worry about competitive elections. The court ruled 2-1 on the matter. Lets consider a slightly bigger state, with 50 people, but still just five districts. On September 12, 2017, the high court voted 5-4 to implement a full stay against both rulings pending progression of the state's appeal. The court directed the state legislature to adopt remedial maps for the challenged districts on or before August 1, 2019. ", Districts 103, 104, and 105 in Dallas County, Intent: "Plaintiffs would have to establish that a state had an intent to gerrymander for partisan advantage. On August 27, 2018, a three-judge panel of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina ruled that North Carolina's congressional district map constituted an illegal partisan gerrymander. Relying on the Supreme Courts decision this Term in the. Jon Eguia, a professor in Michigan State Universitys department of economics, researches partisan advantages in redistricting maps. Ripple wrote the following in the court's majority opinion:[334][335], Judge William Griesbach dissented and wrote the following in his dissent:[334], The court declined to order a remedy when it issued its ruling. Judge William Osteen wrote an opinion that concurred in part and dissented in part. The state of Wisconsin has competitive legislative districts that meet every traditional principle of redistricting. Further details about this case are provided below. On May 3, 2019, Republicans filed a request with the three-judge panel for an emergency stay of its ruling. "[131], On September 4, 2018, the district court announced it would not order changes to the map before Novembers election, finding that imposing a new schedule for North Carolina's congressional elections would, at this late juncture, unduly interfere with the State's electoral machinery and likely confuse voters and depress turnout. On October 1, 2018, the defendants appealed the district court's decision to the United States Supreme Court, which agreed to take up the case and scheduled oral argument for March 26, 2019. Here in Michigan, for instance, we just amended our own state constitution to explicitly require partisan fairness, that is, that the maps be fair to all parties. And redistricting contributes to political polarization by making elections less competitive. On December 12, 2011, the court dismissed the case. Say 64 percent of the state votes Red and 36 percent votes Blue. That opportunity might allow incumbents to createdistricts that are particularly favorable to them on personal grounds. And data from the 2020 census, delayed by the pandemic, was just released in August. Perry signed the maps into law. In most states, the state legislature has primary control of the redistricting process, both for state legislative districts and for congressional districts. On October 7, 2014, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia struck down the state's congressional map. The court ordered the state to enact a remedial plan by June 14, 2019. Eleven states leave the mapmaking to an outside panel. Oral argument in the case took place on October 3, 2017. The high court heard oral argument in the case on January 17, 2018. District lines are redrawn every 10 years following completion of the United States census. We need districts roughly the same size. Redistricting, then, is the process of redrawing district boundaries to guarantee equal voter representation through equal, or equivalent, population counts. Solved Redistricting O A. happens every 4 years. B. is - Chegg [104], Charlie Spies, an attorney representing Michigan Republicans, told the following to The Detroit News: "We will likely see a stay and urge caution in drawing conclusions from this opinion, which we believe is at odds with where the Supreme Court will end up." The first element in the formula was whether, as of November 1, 1964, the jurisdiction maintained a "test or device," such as a literacy test restricting the opportunity to register and vote. [251], On February 22, 2018, Pennsylvania State Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (R), Senate State Government Committee Chairman Mike Folmer (R), and Republican congressmen Lou Barletta, Ryan Costello, Mike Kelly, Tom Marino, Scott Perry, Keith Rothfus, Lloyd Smucker, and Glenn Thompson filed suit in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, seeking an injunction against implementation of the state supreme court's remedial congressional district plan. [240][241], In its order, the court set the primary election filing period for congressional candidates to begin on February 27, 2018, and to end on March 20, 2018. if(document.getElementsByClassName("reference").length==0) if(document.getElementById('Footnotes')!==null) document.getElementById('Footnotes').parentNode.style.display = 'none'; Ballotpedia features 408,500 encyclopedic articles written and curated by our professional staff of editors, writers, and researchers. Robert Bentley (R) for his signature, then to the U.S. Department of Justice for preclearance. The high court granted the stay on May 24, 2019. First, new districts must be drawn when a state gains or loses congressional districts as a result of the apportionment of congressional districts to the states. The filing period had originally been set to open on December 2, 2019, and close on December 20, 2019. On September 19, 2011, the Senate approved a congressional redistricting plan, but the legislature adjourned before the map could be taken up for a vote in the House. [165][166][168], On August 19 and 20, 2017, the General Assembly of North Carolina released drafts of revised district maps for the state House and Senate, respectively. Persily released his draft congressional district map on January 13, 2012. A district court therefore must undertaken an 'equitable weighing process' to select a fitting remedy for the legal violations it has identified, taking account of "what is necessary, what is fair, and what is workable." [11], Under the policies, inmates who were in-state residents prior to incarceration were to be counted in their last known residence's district population. House Minority Leader Darren Jackson (D), referring to the criterion that permits lawmakers to consider incumbency, said "It just seems ridiculous to me that you get to say, 'We will protect the incumbents elected using unconstitutional maps." The United States Department of Justice granted preclearance to the congressional maps on April 9, 2012. Eric Holder, former U.S. Attorney General and chair of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, said, "The congressional map passed by Republicans in the North Carolina legislature simply replaces one partisan gerrymander with a new one. The judges ordered state officials to inform the court within three days of the state legislature's intent to draft and implement new remedial maps. Redistricting 101 - Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts 7, 2021. The new congressional district map was signed into law by Governor Bobby Jindal on April 14, 2011. In November 2010, voters approved two separate constitutional amendments establishing that congressional and state legislative districts must meet the following criteria (Amendment 6 applied to congressional districts; Amendment 5 applied to legislative districts):[44][45]. The court did not issue a full decision on the merits, stating that "disruptions to the election process need not occur, nor may an expedited schedule for summary judgment or trial even be needed, should the General Assembly, on its own initiative, act immediately and with all due haste to enact new congressional districts." The United States District Court for the District of South Carolina rejected the challenge on March 9, 2012. '". "[302][303], Because the state legislature was unable to adopt a new congressional district map, the task fell to a panel of federal judges. The census dictates how many seats in Congress each state will get, which is why some states gain or lose seats in the House of Representatives every 10 years. [282], On August 28, 2017, Associate Justice Samuel Alito of the Supreme Court of the United States stayed the district court's August 15 ruling on Texas' congressional district plan pending further review by the high court. On April 30, 2019, attorneys for Republican lawmakers appealed the decision to the Supreme Court of the United States. The new map adds Richmond and Petersburg to the 4th District, represented by Republican J. Randy Forbes, improving Democrats chances of winning the district in November. [248], House Minority Leader Frank Dermody (D) argued that the impeachment efforts constituted an unfounded attack on the judiciary. They also do the same for the districts of state legislators. The redistricting backup commission was convened to draw the map. The Kentucky Supreme Court affirmed the trial court's ruling on February 24, 2012. The plaintiffs asked that the court bar the state from using the maps in the 2020 election cycle. In these circumstances, the displacement to the judiciary of the political responsibility for redistricting -- which is assigned to the General Assembly by the United States Constitution -- appears to me to be unprecedented. [313][314], On March 1, 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its ruling in Bethune-Hill v. Virginia Board of Elections, finding that the district court "employed an incorrect legal standard in determining that race did not predominate in 11 of the 12 districts." These new maps resembled the second interim maps issued by the district court. Current proposals include banning partisan gerrymandering altogether and giving the courts greater power to intervene, but any such changes would most likely require Democrats to overcome a Republican filibuster. Rather than undertaking such an analysis in this case, the District Court addressed the balance of equities in only the most cursory fashion. Holding on to your job and political power is easier when you dont have to worry about a tough challenge from the other party. A redistricting plan was adopted by the legislature on July 26, 2011. Apportioning keeps a map of districts fixed and assigns a number of seats to each district according to its population. Gamesmanship in the creation of legislative districts is nearly as old as representative democracy itself. . Congressional elections in 2012 and 2014 took place under the congressional map approved in 2012. On August 31, 2017, Alito issued a similar order on the district court's August 24 ruling on Texas' state House district plan. That same day, the court denied the plaintiffs' request for a temporary injunction and set an expedited schedule for review. The district court held that the plaintiffs did not establish that race was the predominant factor in the creation of 11 of the 12 challenged district. On November 16, 2011, the legislature approved new congressional district boundaries, which were signed into law by the governor on November 21, 2011. Governor Mike Beebe and Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, both Democrats, voted to approve the maps. As enacted, the state House district map paired incumbents in three districts (i.e., incumbents who, under the prior plan, resided in separate districts):[173]. On February 12, 2018, a panel of state superior court judges declined this request. [322][323][324][325][326], On January 22, 2019, the district court issued an order directing Grofman to finalize the district plan for the House of Delegates selected by the court. If we draw the districts like this, Blue holds a majority in all five districts. Mr. Gerry had the special misfortune of angering an editor at The Boston Gazette, who captioned a cartoon depicting a salamander-like state legislative district The Gerry-mander. "[136], On November 20, 2019, the court issued an order delaying the congressional candidate filing period for the 2020 election cycle pending resolution of the case. Even if we assumecontrary to the findings of the District Courtthat plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits of their claims, the balance of equities and the public interest tilted against their request for a preliminary injunction. B) is conducted by state legislatures. On August 17, 2015, a special session of the state legislature was convened. State court rulings, civic activism and constitutional reforms over the past few years have served as a corrective of these excesses in many states, including in Michigan, where the constitutional amendment of 2018 I mentioned above removed the power to draw district maps from the state assembly, and put it in the hands of an Independent Citizen Commission.". Unfortunately, without the presence of the Senate, there is no possible path forward on redistricting."
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