One of the biggest legal guns in the country is coming for partisan gerrymandering

[babylonsister]

https://thinkprogress.org/one-of-the-biggest-legal-guns-in-the-country-is-coming-for-partisan-gerrymandering-4e6d3a0385fe#.paed6racc

One of the biggest legal guns in the country is coming for partisan gerrymandering
Ian Millhiser

Help is on the way.


It’s only a slight exaggeration to say that the fate of the American Republic rests on how Justice Anthony Kennedy votes in Gill v. Whitford, a gerrymandering case that is all but certain to be heard by the Supreme Court. And now, that case is set to be argued by the single most qualified lawyer in the country to present such a case to the justices.

Last November, a three-judge federal court struck down Wisconsin’s state assembly maps, saying they were unconstitutionally drawn to advantage Republicans. That alone is a big deal. The Supreme Court has been highly skeptical of gerrymandering suits in the past. Though Kennedy refused to slam the door entirely shut to such suits, many obstacles remain in front of any attorney who seeks a federal court order against a gerrymandered map.

But the legal team behind Whitford is seeking far more than just a court order nixing one set of maps in Wisconsin. They’ve also devised a mathematical formula that will allow courts to determine which states are engaged in partisan gerrymanders. This matters because Kennedy previously said that he is reluctant to strike down gerrymandered maps because “workable standards” have not emerged that courts can use to make such an assessment.

Team Whitford, in other words, may have solved the specific problem the Court’s swing justice identified in challenges to partisan gerrymandering. It’s a potentially nation-changing development that could break the Republican Party’s near-stranglehold on the U.S. House of Representatives.

snip//

Of course, the fact that Whitford will be argued by one of the biggest stars in the Supreme Court bar’s constellation does not guarantee a victory. But Team Whitford is armed with a legal theory that speaks directly to concerns that Justice Kennedy raised in the past, and they’ve now recruited the best lawyer they possibly could have hired to present this theory to the justices.

If Whitford can be won before the conservative Roberts Court, Smith is the attorney who is most likely to win it.

[LisaM]

1. This is great. There have been some victories against gerrymandering

and other shenanigans the past few years, but to find a way to combine the findings so that they can be applied in a more widespread manner is huge.

[babylonsister]

2. If this gets done, the playing field will at least be even, and

that would change the game.