Republicans Lose at U.S. High Court on Virginia Voting Map

[Purveyor]

Source: Bloomberg

The U.S. Supreme Court threw out a challenge to a judge-drawn voting map that might help Democrats pick up a seat from Virginia in the U.S. House.

The unanimous ruling Monday said the state’s Republican congressional delegation couldn’t press an appeal seeking to reinstate an earlier map drawn by the state legislature. That map helped Republicans capture eight of Virginia’s 11 U.S. congressional districts in the 2012 and 2014 elections.

In ordering the new map, a lower court said race played too much of a role when the legislature drew the boundaries for the 3rd District, held by Democratic Representative Bobby Scott. Mapmakers consolidated black, mostly Democratic voters into Scott’s district so that it stretched from north of Richmond southeast to Norfolk, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) away.

That improved Republican prospects in neighboring districts.
Virginia’s Democratic Attorney General Mark Herring didn’t appeal that ruling, but the state’s Republican representatives took the matter to the Supreme Court.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-05-23/republicans-lose-at-u-s-supreme-court-on-virginia-voting-map

[bucolic_frolic]

1. The Courts and the Supreme Court

seem suddenly unwilling to become very involved in partisan voting issues

Even the conservatives are letting things alone as they are

[LisaM]

2. Some of this redistricting probably got them the Tea Party

And some of the re-districting was indefensible when you look at it on a map.

[elleng]

3. That's the Court's usual tendency,

and there are a lot of 'matters' of that nature arising these days.

[samsingh]

4. because the conservative majority is gone for the moment.

[Judi Lynn]

5. If Republicans can't cheat, they can't win. Thanks for the info. n/t

[happyslug]

6. Here is the actual opinion:

http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/15pdf/14-1504_6khn.pdf

The Attorney General of Virginia (Who is a Democrat) refused to file an appeal from the decision of the Federal Court. Three Congressmen who claimed they were harmed by the district lines intervened and filed the appeal. The Court ruled that since NONE of them were running in the one district most affected by the new lines, none of them had standing in this case and thus their appeal had to be dismissed. Notice the reason for dismissal was STANDING, not the underlying issues in the case.

[Dustlawyer]

7. I live in a district that is 100 miles long and at one point is only 15

Feet wide. It divides our town along racial lines to water down minority voting here, yet SCOTUS upheld the Tom Delay gerrymandering. I said at the time that if our district was OK then there can never be any gerrymandering. The funny thing was that our Democrat who lost his seat as a result of Delay's gerrymandering ran for Delay's old seat after his indictment and won! Two Republicans fought and one went Independant and split the vote, giving a Democrat the seat in a Republican "safe" district!