The Courts Will Not Save the Democrats on Gerrymandering

Today, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its opinion in the combined cases from Maryland and North Carolina challenging those state’s respective Congressional redistricting maps. As has been widely reported, the Court found that challenges to partisan gerrymandering do not rise to the level of a constitutional violation and the federal courts do not have jurisdiction to hear such cases.

While we here in Maryland may be disappointed by the Court’s failure to strike down the admittedly hyperpartisan redistricting map in our state, the Court’s ruling, delivered by Chief Justice Roberts joined by the court’s other conservative justices, is a circumspect opinion punctuated by judicial restraint and originalist constitutional reasoning.

Here are some quotes from the Court’s ruling:

More