Justices to tackle partisan gerrymandering … again: In Plain English

Every 10 years, the federal government conducts a census. The states then use the data from the census to draw new maps for their state legislatures and federal congressional districts. The maps often take politics into account – for example, to protect incumbents. But in March, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument on whether state officials can go too far, so that they actually violate the Constitution, when they draw maps that favor one political party at another’s expense. And with the retirement last year of Justice Anthony Kennedy, the justices could be poised to rule that this issue – known as partisan gerrymandering – is one that the courts should leave to politicians and the political process. When the justices take the bench for oral arguments on March 26, the questions before them will be both familiar and very difficult. In 2004, when the Supreme Court reviewed a partisan-gerrymandering challenge to Pennsylvania’s redistricting…

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