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June 30, 2004
Larios 8 Cox 1
Larios v Cox was affirmed by the Supreme Court today, with the brave and noble Justice Scalia dissenting. This means that the old legislative districts approved by the Democrats and Barnes are never coming back and also that a number of states could potentially be in play. When the decision first was handed down by the district court, a number of people pointed out that 30 other states had similar deviation to Georgia's (in the 9-10% overall range).
Democrats or Republicans in those states should immediately sue to overturn their districts based on this decision. 41 states total have deviation greater than Georgia's current 2% (+ or - 1% overall) although the court's refusal to hear this case makes it a little unclear if this is the new safe harbor or if +/- 4 or some other number will still be acceptable.
The court also refused to get involved in Colorado's redistricting case, affirming the CO Supreme Court's ruling that redistricting can only be done once per decade. Even when a court is who initially does it then that counts as the once per decade and a newly elected legislature can't step in and claim responsibility for something the court has already done. This is in Colorado's constitution and doesn't necessarily apply to other states.
Following redistricting law is kind of like watching water swirl down a drain. Ultimately we think we know what the conclusion will be but it's taking a long time to get there and the path is not very direct. It seems to me that the guidelines in the future will be to do whatever you want but to keep the deviation to +/- 1% or as close to 0, preferably. Certain states, like Hawaii will probably be allowed extra deviation due to extraordinary geographic concerns, but I think the future is ugly maps with little to no deviation. And then after that I imagine there will be a growing chorus demanding nonpartisan redistricting commissions like Iowa's. BOOORING, but it seems inevitable.
Extra: See what kind of deviation your state allows.
Posted by Chris at June 30, 2004 11:53 AM
Comments
I personally would love to see bling state and federal districts for all states. I truly believe no politician/candidate should ever have a district handed to them based solely on their party affiliation.
Posted by: Tim at July 1, 2004 09:35 AM
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