The Supreme Court has examined the issue of partisan gerrymandering in 2017, and the results could possibly change the voting map moving forward. Before we dive into the Supreme Court Case and what it means, let’s go through exactly what gerrymandering is. It is a difficult process to explain, but it is drawing political boundaries to give a party a numeric advantage over an opposing party. It is simply manipulating lines in a district so they will overlap with more people in your party. Many people believe that this is the main reason that Republicans are able to gain control of Congressional positions. And now, the Supreme Court is taking a look and identifying whether or not this is a legal process.
Currently, it is already illegal to draw gerrymandering districts along racial lines, but there’s ambiguity about districts drawn along excessively partisan lines. Or in other words, lines that make something more Democratic or more Republican. So what has happened so far? This week there have been oral arguments and there have been statements made by the Chief Justice thus far as well. There is an initial worry that the integrity of the court will be in contention, mainly because this decision could favor the side of the Democrats or the Republicans, and the media and public may make them out to look as more favorable to one side or the other.
The end result of this case could change the way political races end up in the future. But starting out, it may be a difficult case for the Supreme Court to resolve moving forward. It appears to be split, 4-4 along liberal conservative lines thus far, with the man in the middle being Justice Anthony Kennedy, who said back in 2004 that declaring that partisan gerrymandering is unconstitutional if “manageable standards" could be developed for identifying which ones are extreme.
The case before the court is from Wisconsin, because in 2011 Republicans completely controlled the redistricting process for the first time in four decades. Using data and technology they made the districts more favorable to the Republicans, so even though they lost the majority vote, the Republicans were still able to capture more districts, which means more legislative seats for them.
The Supreme Court will rule whether this gerrymandering process is legal or not, which may shape the upcoming elections. This is obviously a confusing and winding road for the Supreme Court, if you need more clarity, feel free to reach out to the Law Offices of Nicholas J. Del Pizzo today!