Justices to tackle gerrymandering
WASHINGTON — With Justice Anthony Kennedy expected to be the pivotal vote, the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether the Constitution prohibits states from drawing congressional and legislative seats which favor one party and reduce electoral competition.
The justices announced Monday that they will hear arguments later this year on a Wisconsin case in which Republicans designed districts that allowed the GOP to seize overwhelming control of the state assembly in 2012, despite winning less than half the votes cast statewide that year.
Even though the justices would be examining state legislative districts in Wisconsin, the ruling, which could be handed down in the late fall or early winter, could impact Ohio’s congressional maps. Republicans control 12 of the state’s 16 congressional seats in Ohio.
A ruling striking down the Wisconsin districts would be a seismic change in American politics. Known as gerrymandering, the practice has been part of American politics since the early days of the republic. But critics have charged that modern gerrymandering reduces the number of competitive districts and leads to candidates from the far right or left defeating more-moderate candidates.
When the justices in 2004 upheld a Pennsylvania redistricting plan, Kennedy made clear he would welcome a challenge to partisan redistricting by relying on the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech.
“First Amendment concerns arise where a state enacts a law that has the purpose and effect of subjecting a group of voters or their party to disfavored treatment by reason of their views,” Kennedy wrote in the case, Vieth v. Jubelirer.
Edward Foley, a professor of law at Ohio State University, said Kennedy “already thinks partisan gerrymandering is evil. He’s just not sure it is unconstitutional.”
A federal district court made up of three judges last year specifically cited Kennedy’s opinion when it struck down the Wisconsin map.
Ohio lawmakers approved a major overhaul of the way Ohio’s state legislative districts are designed, a move that voters ratified in 2015.
Advocates of more-competitive congressional districts hope to place an initiative on the Ohio ballot either this year or next to draw up maps in a bipartisan fashion. The legislature in Ohio has the power to design congressional districts.