The Supreme Court granted the Michigan Republican party a win on Monday by throwing out a lower court ruling that required dozens of congressional and legislative districts to be redrawn due to concerns they had been gerrymandered by Republicans.
The high court’s 5-to-4 decision reverses a ruling by the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, which demanded the state redraw nine congressional districts and 25 state districts by August 1.
Monday’s decision also follows the Supreme Court’s ruling in June that it would leave gerrymandering cases to state courts.
“Partisan gerrymandering claims present political questions beyond the reach of the federal courts,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the June decision, which dealt with district boundaries in Maryland and North Carolina.
That ruling divided the court along ideological lines with Roberts serving as the swing vote.
Roberts joined conservative Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch to strike down the lower court’s ruling, while liberal Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagen, and Stephen Breyer voted to preserve the lower court’s finding that the districts must be redrawn.
SNIP
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
“districts will not be redrawn until 2022, when a bipartisan redistricting commission resulting from a state referendum last fall will assume the task of redrawing the boundaries.”
Bipartisan commission means Dem controlled as so called “independents” are included.
The high court’s 5-to-4 decision reverses a ruling by the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, which demanded the state redraw nine congressional districts and 25 state districts by August 1.
Monday’s decision also follows the Supreme Court’s ruling in June that it would leave gerrymandering cases to state courts.
“Partisan gerrymandering claims present political questions beyond the reach of the federal courts,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the June decision, which dealt with district boundaries in Maryland and North Carolina.
That ruling divided the court along ideological lines with Roberts serving as the swing vote.
Roberts joined conservative Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch to strike down the lower court’s ruling, while liberal Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagen, and Stephen Breyer voted to preserve the lower court’s finding that the districts must be redrawn.
SNIP
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
“districts will not be redrawn until 2022, when a bipartisan redistricting commission resulting from a state referendum last fall will assume the task of redrawing the boundaries.”
Bipartisan commission means Dem controlled as so called “independents” are included.
