SCOTUS rules on gerrymandering, citizenship question via ReutersTV
WASHINGTON - In a major blow to election reformers, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday rejected efforts to rein in electoral map manipulation by politicians aimed at entrenching one party in power, a contentious practice known as partisan gerrymandering that critics have said warps democracy.
The court ruled for the first time that federal courts have no authority to curb partisan gerrymandering - a decision that could give lawmakers who control state legislatures even more incentive to draw maps after the 2020 census that disadvantage voters who tend to back the rival party. “The practices challenged in these cases imperil our system of government,” Kagan said. With her voice breaking, Kagan added, “With respect but deep sadness,” that the four liberal justices dissented.
The high court previously had struggled to resolve the legality of partisan gerrymandering, a longstanding practice in which boundaries of legislative districts are reworked with the aim of tightening one party’s grip on power. The justices in June 2018 failed to issue definitive rulings on partisan gerrymandering in two cases - this same one from Maryland and another involving a Republican-drawn electoral map in Wisconsin.
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