Supreme Court considers politics in redistricting

[drfemoe]

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/344/wash/Supreme_Court_considers_politi:.shtml

WASHINGTON (AP) The Supreme Court considered Wednesday whether to give politicians new rules for drawing election districts in a case that questions whether the process has gotten too political.

Justices were reviewing a fight from Pennsylvania over a congressional map that essentially redistricted three Democratic House members out of a job. Court members debated whether to throw out the entire map, or order a redrawing of one questionable district in the Philadelphia suburbs.

Democratic voters who challenged the plan want the high court to use the case to spell out rules limiting partisan gerrymandering, the practice of drawing districts to favor one party over another.

During the arguments, Justice Antonin Scalia asked how the court could define unfairness.
...
con't

[Homer12]

1. Scalia should just ask Tom Delay

[drfemoe]

2. He's in the news too!!!

DU LBN thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=263950

DeLay's intervention blasted

AUSTIN-- The day before a federal trial, Democrats on Wednesday released memos they say show that U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay drove the Legislature to adopt a Republican congressional redistricting plan without any interest in protecting minority voting rights.
... con't

[dusty64]

3. Any news from this yet?

x

[drfemoe]

4. Expect ruling in a few months ...

...
"Justice John Paul Stevens suggested that if the only criteria used in re-districting was giving one party an edge, 'that's a violation of the duty to govern impartially'.

Gerrymandering has long been a part of the American political process. The Supreme Court has endorsed it in a case designed to help ethnic minorities win representation in Congress.

The court's ruling, not expected for months, could invalidate districts across the country before the 2004 presidential and Congress elections. "

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/world/story/0,4386,224805,00.html