October 3, 2021 At the roots of American democracy, most of the assemblies in the 13 colonies and in the original founding states used the apportionment method to assign seats to counties and townships, so they did not need to draw districts. On October 17, 2011, the state legislature approved new congressional district boundaries, which were signed into law on October 20, 2011. The landmark Voting Rights Act prohibited racial discrimination in voting and ushered in a host of new protections. On May 28, 2019, the court approved a remedial plan for House District 90. [35], On November 1, 2011, the United States Department of Justice precleared these plans. [128][129][130], Associate Justice Samuel Alito wrote an opinion that concurred with the majority opinion in part and dissented in part. The court ordered that these two districts be redrawn. This panel issued state Senate and House district maps on November 30, 2011. The plaintiffs alleged that the state supreme court, in adopting a remedial map, violated the Elections Clause of the United States Constitution by usurping the redistricting authority granted by the Constitution to state legislatures. At the time of redistricting, Republicans held both chambers of the Wisconsin State Legislature and the governorship. The Senate map enacted by the legislature on August 30, 2017, is displayed below. Third, Plaintiffs' Elections Clause claim is an unjustifiable attempt to skirt existing Supreme Court precedent. The plaintiffs alleged that the new district lines constituted a partisan gerrymander in favor of Democrats. These new maps resembled the second interim maps issued by the district court. Associate Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Stephen Breyer dissented. For these 11 districts, the high court remanded the case to the district court for reconsideration. Kagan wrote a concurring opinion joined by Ginsburg, Breyer, and Sotomayor. [296], On December 22, 2014, opponents of the newly drawn map filed suit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, alleging that 12 state legislative districts constituted an illegal racial gerrymander.
redistricting is conducted by state legislatures quizlet