SUPREME COURT: JUSTICE SCALIA DEATH AND SCOTUS CHANGES

[HairOfTheDog]

June Rulings Pending

• Fair & Representative Elections --   Rucho v. Common Cause (North Carolina) and Lamone v. Benisek(Maryland): cases from North Carolina and Maryland that test whether there is any constitutional limit to extreme partisan gerrymandering that serves to entrench one-party domination of congressional seats in states that are more narrowly divided.
  

Follow-up:  

I really wish the Supreme Court had ruled against extreme partisan gerrymandering anywhere in the country, but unfortunately they kicked the issue back down to the lower courts.  

On June 27, 2019, the court ruled 5-4 that partisan gerrymandering claims present political questions that fall beyond the jurisdiction of the federal judiciary. The high court remanded the case to the lower court with instructions to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction.

All of the conservative Justices concurred with the opinion that voter districting guidelines should be left solely to the states, while all of the liberal judges disagreed.

Case summary and Justice opinions:  https://ballotpedia.org/Rucho_v._Common_Cause