Re:Supreme Court rules federal courts cannot invalidate part...
by JumpCrisscross on Thursday June 27, 2019 @12:19PM
(#20295862)
> How would they do that? Pass a law? Does the federal government have that authority?
Yes, at least for federal election districts. (The power is shared with the states, though.)
The crux of the SCOTUS decision is the court has no way to define fairness when it comes to drawing political boundaries. Congress passed a law banning gerrymandering using racial criteria, so courts can overrule maps on that basis. But Congress hasn't addressed partisan gerrymandering. The courts, rightfully in my opinion, after reading the SCOTUS opinion, are rejecting the right to unilaterally expand the set of criteria upon which they can reject political maps.
Yes, at least for federal election districts. (The power is shared with the states, though.)
The crux of the SCOTUS decision is the court has no way to define fairness when it comes to drawing political boundaries. Congress passed a law banning gerrymandering using racial criteria, so courts can overrule maps on that basis. But Congress hasn't addressed partisan gerrymandering. The courts, rightfully in my opinion, after reading the SCOTUS opinion, are rejecting the right to unilaterally expand the set of criteria upon which they can reject political maps.