Gerrymandering Redux

Gerrymandering Redux

Ranker lists “The Most Gerrymandered Districts In America”

https://www.ranker.com/list/most-gerrymandered-districts-in-america/eric-vega

Gerrymandering is legal – except by race. By and large the courts stay out of it because the Constitution gives the power to the states. But this Supreme Court will likely rule that racial gerrymandering is also illegal – as they may do in the Louisiana case. Illinois gerrymandered two republicans out of their seats. Look at the map of Illinois district 4 and you can see what they were doing to make that district majority democrat. Would you believe that there were enough republicans in Massachusetts to make that legislature gerrymander to exclude the republicans entirely from their delegation? I really wonder what the House would look like if all states had to construct districts that were compact and contiguous with 761,000 residents? I personally hate districts that cut counties into separate districts.

“The federal judiciary’s position on purely political gerrymandering was clarified in the 2019 Supreme Court case Rucho v. Common Cause. The Court declared that claims of partisan gerrymandering are “non-justiciable political questions,” meaning the issue is outside the authority of federal courts to resolve. The Court argued that the Constitution does not provide a “limited and precise standard” for courts to determine when partisan advantage in redistricting goes too far.”

But what about racial gerrymandering? “While federal courts will not intervene in cases of purely political gerrymandering, the legal landscape changes when race is the predominant factor in drawing district lines. Racial gerrymandering is illegal under federal law, prohibited by the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. These protections are designed to prevent states from drawing maps that dilute the voting power of racial minorities.”

This is why the Louisiana case is so important.

As to the districts, here are a few of the most gerrymandered in the country. My favorite is Maryland District 3.