Judge: Michigan GOP redistricting challenges unlikely to succeed

[RandySF]

Groups hoping to upend Michigan's new redistricting commission faced a setback as a judge said they weren't likely to succeed in arguing the commission violated their constitutional rights.

U.S. District Court Judge Janet Neff denied the Republican groups' push for an immediate pause on the redistricting commission and countered their arguments that certain conditions for serving on the commission were unconstitutional.

Those conditions ban political party officials, lobbyists, consultants and their relatives from being on the commission that will begin drawing Michigan's legislative district lines after the 2020 election.

"The eligibility provisions at issue do not impose severe burdens on plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights," Neff wrote in her opinion released Monday. "There is no right to state office or appointment."

Excluding certain individuals from the commission "furthers a legitimate state interest in establishing a fair and impartial redistricting process," added Neff, who serves in Michigan's Western District and was nominated by former President George W. Bush.


https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2019/11/25/judge-gop-michigan-redistricting-legal-challenges-unlikely-succeed/4303152002/