Cooper v. Harris

[de officiis]

Supreme Court ruling wipes out Republican-drawn House districts in N.C.

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that racial considerations pervaded the way North Carolina lawmakers drew congressional maps after the 2010 Census in order to maximize Republicans' advantage.

The 5-3 ruling ... was the latest in a series of decisions by the justices against the excessive use of race in redistricting, the decennial process of drawing new district lines for Congress and state legislatures. Justice Clarence Thomas joined the court's four liberal justices in striking down the state's maps.

...

The North Carolina ruling upheld a federal district court decision that struck down the state's 1st and 12th congressional districts because state lawmakers had packed African American voters into them, thereby minimizing the influence of black voters in other districts. Kagan said the 1st district "produced boundaries amplifying divisions between blacks and whites," while in the 12th, "race, not politics, accounted for the district's reconfiguration."

Opinion: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/1 ... 2_db8e.pdf

[TheReal_ND]

We should redraw the districts so that the African American vote is distributed equally to each district. That way they can be represented fairly and we can eliminate dangerous voting blocks that are harmful for representative democracy.

[SuburbanFarmer]

This is a good thing, and I hope it continues.

@Nuke - I think a simple geographic cube would work best for all districts.

[TheReal_ND]

African Americans don't live in cubes. We have to draw the districts in such a way that ensures each one gets an equal allotment of African Americans.

[SuburbanFarmer]

African Americans don't live in cubes. We have to draw the districts in such a way that ensures each one gets an equal allotment of African Americans.

Was being serious. How we ever allowed the parties to play with the maps like this is amazing to me.

[TheReal_ND]

I imagine they do it to win elections. I think it's fine as long as they do it along typical party lines that are more or less representative of the people living there. It can get out of hand though I guess.

[SuburbanFarmer]

Ya think?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/won ... c2246b8d3b

[de officiis]

Ya think?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/won ... c2246b8d3b

Suburban Maryland around DC has some of the worst of this sort of thing.

[jbird4049]

I imagine they do it to win elections. I think it's fine as long as they do it along typical party lines that are more or less representative of the people living there. It can get out of hand though I guess.

The courts ruled a few decades ago that districts are supposed to be compact and continuous, yet we are still getting districts that would make Governor Elbridge Gerry (gerrymandering) blush.

African Americans don't live in cubes. We have to draw the districts in such a way that ensures each one gets an equal allotment of African Americans.

Was being serious. How we ever allowed the parties to play with the maps like this is amazing to me.

In fairness they didn't have computer programs and survey data that could draw district lines down to individual houses based on the resident's party membership. There are also some states using election commissions and programs to make districts more honest without "much" Party interference.

[jbird4049]

I imagine they do it to win elections. I think it's fine as long as they do it along typical party lines that are more or less representative of the people living there. It can get out of hand though I guess.

The courts ruled a few decades ago that districts are supposed to be compact and continuous, yet we are still getting districts that would make Governor Elbridge Gerry (gerrymandering) blush.

African Americans don't live in cubes. We have to draw the districts in such a way that ensures each one gets an equal allotment of African Americans.

Was being serious. How we ever allowed the parties to play with the maps like this is amazing to me.

In fairness they didn't have computer programs and survey data that could draw district lines down to individual houses based on the resident's party membership. There are also some states using election commissions and programs to make districts more honest without "much" Party interference. And there had been an understanding that neither party would be too ruthless in drawing districts if they were in charge during that census realignment.