Politics and Religion

Maryland Judge Throws Out “Extremely Gerrymandered” Congressional Map
cks175 51 Reviews 490 reads
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Back to the drawing board for the Democrats in Annapolis. Notable that the judge is a Democrat who previously had been appointed to serve as a US Attorney by Bill Clinton.

This is the first Democratic drawn map to be thrown out in court. Two other Blue States having their Congressional Maps contested in court are Illinois and New York.
Relevant to New York redistricting litigation because Sean Trende was also Plaintiffs' expert in Maryland. Maryland circuit court judge credited his analysis & testimony, finding Democrats engaged in "extreme partisan gerrymandering" and thus violated the state constitution.


-- Modified on 3/25/2022 10:28:44 AM

been blocked by courts too, but I'm surprised so many Dem legislatures are getting called out.  The Dems historically have been really good at gerrymandering.  In the past, they knew not to be overly greedy, but I think they are panicked because  the run-up to the mid-terms look more and more like they are going to take a shellacking.  

Anyways, it's a mess,,the rep tried to get tricky and the courts called them out for a do over...and it was a rep judge who sided with the dems...and I'm still not sure if North Carolina got their shit together, yet.

...He only posts "newsworthy" items if they’re negative about lefties or positive about righties.  IOW, he’s perfectly qualified to work for Fox News.  Even CDL had to correct that "reasonable" righty.  

 
And as usual, CDL AKA "Mr. Poetic License"  did it again when he said "...so many Dem legislatures are getting called out."  "So many?"  How many?  CKS mentioned MD, IL and NY.  Where are CDL's "so many?"

This is the first Democratic drawn map to be thrown out in court.
It goes without saying that if this is the first Democratic map to be thrown out, than Republican maps have already been tossed. As an infrequent visitor here, I can understand BigPapasan not realizing that GOP gerrymandering has already been discussed in other posts.

If a thread about gerrymandering in Maryland, placed here only to balance out the discussion, is triggering to some, they might want to question as to whether this is a forum they should be visiting at all.

. Even so, Democrats quickly understood the chances of winning an appeal of Judge Battaglia’s ruling was doubtful given how the state’s highest court is now stacked with Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s appointees — and headed by his former chief legislative officer, Joseph M. Getty. Thus, with the clock ticking on the 2022 primary election, their only workable option was to go back to the drawing board to try to make it less partisan, while maintaining other worthy goals like minority representation and maintaining Baltimore’s double-district political clout through both the 7th and 2nd
The new map stands to be good news for GOP Represenative Harris, whose Eastern Shore (i.e. “Good Ole Boy) District had been redrawn to make it a tossup. Bad news for Dem David Trone (who lives inside the Beltway but represents in a district gerrymandered to negate the political will of Western Marylanders.

...NEWS and COMMENTARY.  Read your link again.  The ruling by the judge was a "surprise" because it turns on a groundbreaking interpretation of the Maryland state constitution.  The judge ruled the state’s congressional map was motivated primarily by partisanship which is a long-standing custom in the give-and-take of partisan politics.  And that’s a view reinforced by the U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts, who has called gerrymandering a political question "beyond the reach of the federal courts."

 
If it went all the way to the Supreme Cort, the Dems may very well have prevailed.  But they were up against the clock because of the proximity of the 2022 primary elections.  Therefore, the Dems' only workable option was to go back to the drawing board to try to make it less partisan.  "Less partisan" - a phrase with which CKS is quite unfamiliar.

 
When the Dems criticized the judge's ruling, the REPUBLICAN House minority whip called the Dems "bitches."  Republicans are always classy, aren't they?  The editorial writers of the Baltimore Sun replied to the REPUBLICAN House minority whip's epithet by saying:

 
"The day we see Delegate Szeliga demonstrate such passion about gerrymandering by Republicans in states like Texas perhaps we will be more inclined to believe this latest effort was truly intended to 'protect democracy' (as Gov. Hogan claimed) and not simply disarm political opponents before the congressional rumble in November."

 
Next time, why don't you try linking the ENTIRE editorial rather than a snippet from a tweet?

 
http://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-0329-gerrymandering-20220328-572twi22fra4ngvcx775ednu2a-story.html

-- Modified on 3/28/2022 9:09:41 PM

NEW: owing to court decisions in Maryland & Ohio, Democrats are now on track to net 1-2 House seats nationally from redistricting alone, down from 4-5 seats in @CookPolitical's previous estimate. In other words, back to a very modest gain.

New York’s primary elections could be pushed from June 28th to as late as August 23 in order to get the maps approved.

The Maryland legislature voted to approve a new redistricting map ordered by the court. Judge won’t rule on it until Governor Hogan signs it, or the legislature overrides a veto.  

In the meantime, the Dem attorney general is appealing the judge’s initial ruling. The overruled map was 7D-1C (competitive). The newer map is 6D-1R-1C. Hogan looks to be holding out for 5D-2R-1C.

An improvement over the Dem’s original 7D-1C map.

Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) will sign Maryland's redrawn congressional map into law Monday and an appeal of a judge's decision to throw out the General Assembly's original proposal will be withdrawn.

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