U.S. Supreme Court To Hear Wisconsin Gerrymandering Case

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether Wisconsin Republican lawmakers violated the constitutional rights of voters when they re-drew electoral districts in 2011.

The case, which will go before the U.S. Supreme Court in the fall, takes on the thorny issue of whether district lines can be re-drawn for partisan advantage. According to a WISN report, the Supreme Court has never struck down districts based on partisan advantage but has ruled in disputes over race and redistricting over the past 50 years.

Wisconsin filed an appeal on Feb. 24, asking the Supreme Court to review the district court's decision to force the state to re-draw the maps in time for 2018 elections. On May 22, the state asked the Supreme Court to halt the lower court's decision, calling for a new redistricting plan.

Paul Smith, vice president of litigation and strategy at the Campaign Legal Center, who will argue the case before the Supreme Court opposing the Republican-drawn plan said, “Partisan gerrymandering of this kind is worse now than at any time in recent memory. The Supreme Court has the opportunity to ensure the maps in Wisconsin are drawn fairly, and further, has the opportunity to create ground rules that safeguard every citizen’s right to freely choose their representatives.”

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos were much happier about the Supreme Court's willingness to take up the case and released the following joint statement in response to the ruling: “We are encouraged by the decision by the Supreme Court to hear Wisconsin’s appeal of Gill v. Whitford and grant a stay of the lower court’s order. Wisconsin lawmakers have maintained that our state’s redistricting process and legislative maps are legal and constitutional, and we look forward to the Court’s final decision which we are confident will affirm our position.”

By the Numbers: Partisan Advantage?

According to the Brennan Center of Justice, after districts were redrawn by Republicans in 2012, Republicans won 60 of the 99 seats in the Wisconsin Assembly despite winning only 48.6 percent of the two-party statewide vote; in 2014, they won 63 seats with only 52 percent of the statewide vote. Republicans took control of Wisconsin's state government during the 2010 election and redrew legislative maps in 2011 as part of redistricting required every 10 years.

Lower Court Orders Republicans To Redraw Maps

After a court ruling found GOP-drawn legislative maps unconstitutional in November of 2016, a judicial panel ordered state lawmakers to have all-new maps in place in time for the November 2018 election.

In their ruling, Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals judges ruled that Wisconsin must "have a remedial redistricting plan for the November 2018 election, enacted by the Wisconsin Legislature and signed by the Governor, in place no later than November 1, 2017."

Republicans Don't Want to Redraw Maps

A group of voters sued, calling the redistricting "the worst example of gerrymandering in modern history."

Wisconsin Legislative Speaker Robin Vos, a Republican from Rochester, said, "It's unprecedented, and it isn't over" after a panel of federal judges ruled GOP-redrawn legislative districts were unconstitutional in November 2016.

“There are only two things that are certain about this case: it’s unprecedented and it isn’t over. The ruling can and should be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court," Vos stated after the ruling. "The state of Wisconsin has competitive legislative districts that meet every traditional principle of redistricting. Republicans win elections because we have better candidates and a better message that continues to resonate with the voters."

Image: Wisconsin Legislature Archives