Supreme Court rules it has no role in deciding whether partisan gerrymandering goes too far - Entrepreneur Generations

The Supreme Court ruled today that federal courts have no business deciding whether partisan gerrymandering, which often benefits conservative rural voters, goes too far. "The 5 to 4 decision was written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and joined by the court’s other conservatives, Robert Barnes reports for The Washington Post. "While the Supreme Court regularly scrutinizes electoral districts for racial gerrymandering, the justices have never found a state’s redistricting map so infected with politics that it violates the Constitution. Such a decision would have marked a dramatic change for how the nation’s political maps are drawn."

In the deciding opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote: "We conclude that partisan gerrymandering claims present political questions beyond the reach of the federal courts . . . Federal judges have no license to reallocate political power between the two major political parties, with no plausible grant of authority in the Constitution, and no legal standards to limit and direct their decisions."

In the minority opinion, Justice Elena Kagan wrote: "For the first time ever, this court refuses to remedy a constitutional violation because it thinks the task beyond judicial capabilities."

The court has had the opportunity to rule on partisan gerrymandering before but has declined for various reasons. Last term the court considered challenges to Wisconsin, Maryland, and North Carolina's maps, but sent those cases back to lower courts for technical reasons, Barnes reports.

"There’s been less reticence outside the Supreme Court. With recent decisions in Ohio and Michigan, federal courts in five states have struck down maps as partisan gerrymanders," Barnes reports. "And last fall, voters in Michigan, Ohio, Colorado, Missouri and Utah either took redistricting away from politicians or limited their power."

from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/2xqmMIJ Supreme Court rules it has no role in deciding whether partisan gerrymandering goes too far - Entrepreneur Generations

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