• Home
  • Opinion
  • Quizzes
  • Redistricting
  • Sections
  • About Us
  • Voting
  • Events
  • Civic Ed
  • Campaign Finance
  • Directory
  • Election Dissection
  • Fact Check
  • Glossary
  • Independent Voter News
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up
  1. Home>
  2. Redistricting>
  3. gerrymandering>

Supreme Court remains divided over partisan gerrymandering

Geoff West
March 26, 2019
Supreme Court remains divided over partisan gerrymandering
Olivier Douliery/Getty Photos

The Supreme Court appears unlikely to ban partisan gerrymandering following oral arguments in two cases Tuesday, as the justices rehashed old concerns about interfering with state-drawn congressional maps.

Some members of the court acknowledged the problems of partisan gerrymandering raised by the two cases, involving legislative maps in North Carolina and Maryland. Few had an answer for it.

"I'm not going to dispute that partisan gerrymandering is a problem," said the newest justice, Brett Kavanaugh, who had not yet been appointed to the court when it last heard arguments in redistricting cases. He believes the court should consider gerrymandering a "threat" to democracy.


However, Kavanaugh questioned whether courts should referee, pointing to the growing number of states that have adopted bipartisan redistricting commissions as proof that voters have the power to end the practice.

Justice Neil Gorsuch also appeared more comfortable deferring to "citizen initiatives" – or the ballot referendums that have established these commissions – as a way to fix partisan mapmaking.

In the challenge to North Carolina's map, Rucho v. Common Cause, some liberal justices appeared sympathetic to the idea of intervening to block extreme examples of partisan gerrymandering.

"What I'm trying to do is figure out how to catch the real outliers," Justice Stephen Breyer said, while also acknowledging the court's unresolved quest to find some standard to identify the extremes.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

The closest the court came to a consensus on spotting partisan gerrymandering came in the second case, Lamone v. Benisek, which challenges a district drawn by Maryland Democrats that helped flip a safe Republican seat.

Attorney Michael Kimberly, arguing on behalf of those challenging Maryland's map, said that proving in a court that legislators intentionally drew districts to dilute votes for the minority party could be enough to toss out a map on constitutional grounds.

"What makes your case so easy is that everyone was completely upfront about what they were doing," Justice Sonia Sotomayor said.

In both cases, state legislators openly admitted the maps were designed with partisan intentions.

A ruling in the cases is expected at the end of June. The court declined to act on redistricting the last time it heard a similar cases in 2017 and 2018.

Related Articles Around the Web
  • How Maryland Democrats pulled off their aggressive gerrymander ... ›
  • How Deep Blue Maryland Shows Redistricting Is Broken - The Atlantic ›
  • Supreme Court expert analyzes North Carolina gerrymandering case ›
  • The Fight Over Partisan Gerrymandering Is Moving Beyond The ... ›
  • Supreme Court Partisan Gerrymandering: How Much Is Too Much ... ›
  • Partisan Gerrymandering | Brennan Center for Justice ›

Want to write
for The Fulcrum?

If you have something to say about ways to protect or repair our American democracy, we want to hear from you.

Submit
Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
Confirm that you are not a bot.
×
Follow
Contributors

Reform in 2023: Leadership worth celebrating

Layla Zaidane

Two technology balancing acts

Dave Anderson

Reform in 2023: It’s time for the civil rights community to embrace independent voters

Jeremy Gruber

Congress’ fix to presidential votes lights the way for broader election reform

Kevin Johnson

Democrats and Republicans want the status quo, but we need to move Forward

Christine Todd Whitman

Reform in 2023: Building a beacon of hope in Boston

Henry Santana
Jerren Chang
latest News

Video: Honoring Memorial Day

Our Staff
26 May

Your Take on congressional incivility

Lennon Wesley III
26 May

White House plan to combat antisemitism needs to take on centuries of hatred, discrimination and even lynching in America

Pamela Nadell
26 May

Shifting the narrative on homelessness in America

David L. Nevins
26 May

Supreme Court math: 3x3=5

Lawrence Goldstone
25 May

Want young people to vote in NY? Open the primaries.

Christina Roggenkamp
25 May
Videos

Video: #ListenFirst Friday YOUnify & CPL

Our Staff

Video: What is the toll of racial violence on Black lives?

Our Staff

Video: What's next for migrants seeking asylum after Title 42

Our Staff

Video: An inside look at the campaign to repeal Pennsylvania’s closed primaries

Our Staff

Video: Where the immigration debate stands today

Our Staff

Video: Bridging divides in the workplace

Our Staff
Podcasts

Podcast: AI revolution: Disaster or great leap forward?

Our Staff
25 May

Podcast: Can we fix America's financial crises?

Our Staff
23 May

Podcast: Gen Z's fight for democracy

Our Staff
22 May

Podcast: Political Football, Inc.

Our Staff
19 May
Recommended
Video: Honoring Memorial Day

Video: Honoring Memorial Day

Test Unlisted
Your Take on congressional incivility

Your Take on congressional incivility

Your Take
White House plan to combat antisemitism needs to take on centuries of hatred, discrimination and even lynching in America

White House plan to combat antisemitism needs to take on centuries of hatred, discrimination and even lynching in America

Government
Video: #ListenFirst Friday YOUnify & CPL

Video: #ListenFirst Friday YOUnify & CPL

Shifting the narrative on homelessness in America

Shifting the narrative on homelessness in America

Test Unlisted
Supreme Court math: 3x3=5

Supreme Court math: 3x3=5

Government