High Court Won't Touch New Pennsylvania Congressional Maps

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March 19, 2018

The nation's highest court has weighed in on the redesigned Pennsylvania congressional maps, and the result is a clear and concise refusal to take action, meaning that the original decision stands.

Earlier this year, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had struck down the state's existing congressional district boundaries, saying that the maps, as designed by the state legislature, were an unconstitutional instance of gerrymandering, drawing up voter districts for overwhelmingly partisan means. The state high court then set a very short timeline for the legislature to draw up new maps for congressional boundaries and for the state's governor to sign the bill into law. Complicating this effort was a political divide: Republicans control the Pennsylvania legislature, and the governor is a Democrat. The Republican-led legislature drew up new maps, which were largely similar in effect to the older maps, in that the boundaries still created partisan districts, and the governor vetoed the bill.

Because the legislators and governor did not agree on new maps by the state supreme court's deadline, the court itself drew up new maps, after consulting with both Democrats and Republicans. The new maps show a more even spread in political preference as identified by voters.

Republican lawmakers then asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene. The high court does have jurisdiction over cases decided by state high courts, but this case was decided with regard to the Pennsylvania state constitution and so was not a state matter. An earlier appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was denied on those same grounds. The new petition cited the U.S. Constitution in arguing that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had overstepped its bounds, but the U.S. Supreme Court did not agree. In fact, the high court included no comments in its decision not to review the case; further, no justice dissented.

The result is that the new maps will, in all likelihood, be the ones used in this year's elections. Whether that translates to more competitive races or even Democrats winning seats previously won by Republicans remains to be seen.

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Social Studies for Kids
copyright 2002–2018
David White

Social Studies for Kids
copyright 2002–2019
David White