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Wisconsin redistricting case at U.S. Supreme Court could rewrite rules on gerrymandering
http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2017/09/29/wisconsin-redistricting-case-u-s-supreme-courtcould-rewrite-rules-how-states-draw-their-election-map/701253001/MADISON - Wisconsin’s redistricting case isn’t just about Wisconsin.
If the group of Democrats suing the Badger State is successful before the U.S. Supreme Court, all states will have to follow new rules on gerrymandering when they draw congressional and legislative maps after the 2020 census.
And in the short term, several states could face lawsuits over the election maps they have been using since 2011.
The nation’s high court will hear arguments in the case Tuesday and decide it by summer. A panel of federal judges last year ruled 2-1 that the maps were drawn so favorably for Republicans that they violated the constitutional rights of Democratic voters.
The two sides disagree about how much new litigation would ensue if the Wisconsin Democrats win before the Supreme Court.
“The number of plans that plaintiffs’ test would threaten is staggering,” Wisconsin Solicitor General Misha Tseytlin wrote in a recent brief.
In the past 45 years, a third of all maps nationally failed a key aspect of the test the plaintiffs want courts to use to measure when maps are too partisan, Tseytlin wrote. The test is unreliable and favors Democrats, he contended.
But attorneys for the Wisconsin Democrats said just 10% to 20% of past maps could have faced challenges under their test — and a majority of those questionable maps helped Democrats.
If the group of Democrats suing the Badger State is successful before the U.S. Supreme Court, all states will have to follow new rules on gerrymandering when they draw congressional and legislative maps after the 2020 census.
And in the short term, several states could face lawsuits over the election maps they have been using since 2011.
The nation’s high court will hear arguments in the case Tuesday and decide it by summer. A panel of federal judges last year ruled 2-1 that the maps were drawn so favorably for Republicans that they violated the constitutional rights of Democratic voters.
The two sides disagree about how much new litigation would ensue if the Wisconsin Democrats win before the Supreme Court.
“The number of plans that plaintiffs’ test would threaten is staggering,” Wisconsin Solicitor General Misha Tseytlin wrote in a recent brief.
In the past 45 years, a third of all maps nationally failed a key aspect of the test the plaintiffs want courts to use to measure when maps are too partisan, Tseytlin wrote. The test is unreliable and favors Democrats, he contended.
But attorneys for the Wisconsin Democrats said just 10% to 20% of past maps could have faced challenges under their test — and a majority of those questionable maps helped Democrats.
The rest at link
