Supreme Court Updates
- Landry v. Callais - Justice Alito granted appellants' request for an extension of time to file their jurisdictional statements.
- Walen v. Burgum - The Supreme Court called for the government’s views effectively putting off consideration of the case for several months.
Census News
- The Census Bureau released updates on remaining data products from the 2020 Census.
- The 2023 Planning Database with new 2020 Census data dropped.
- Establishment of the 2030 Census Redistricting Data Program appeared in the Federal Register.
News From the States
- Alabama - A federal court will not dismiss plaintiff’s racial gerrymandering claims, but did agree to quash some third-party subpoenas.
- Arkansas - Plaintiffs chose not to appeal a finding that the Voting Rights Act lacked a private right of action.
- Florida - Plaintiffs in north Florida will not appeal their loss to the Supreme Court. The state wants another lawsuit in south Florida dismissed.
- Michigan - MICRC adopted its remedial Senate map after 6 rounds of voting.
- Mississippi - A three judge panel ruled on July 2, 2024, that Mississippi’s legislative maps were not racial gerrymanders, rejected four of plaintiffs’ seven proposed districts, but ordered the state to redraw its state house and state senate maps to add two majority-black senate districts and one majority-black house district.
- New York - Some are considering a new constitutional amendment to change how New York redistricts after Harkenrider v. Hochul and the breakdown of the original IRC process in 2022 even though the IRC performed its constitutional duty in 2024 after ordered to do so in Hoffman v. NY IRC.
- North Carolina - The three judge state court panel dismissed a lawsuit claiming the state constitution’s “fair elections” language guaranteed them “fair districts.” The Fourth Circuit declined to hear an interlocutory appeal en banc. The case will now go to trial on February 3, 2025.
- North Dakota - The Supreme Court called for the government’s views in Walen v. Burgum. This effectively puts off the Supreme Court’s consideration of the case for several months.
- Ohio - One gerrymandering challenge was dismissed by a federal court, but activists looking to change the way Ohio redistricts submitted 731,000 signatures to get their measure on the ballot for this fall.
- South Carolina - Alexander will limit Equal Protection Clause claims absent direct evidence, but will have little to no impact on claims under section 2 of the Voting Rights Act according to Gary Lawkowski of the Dhillon Law Group.
- Utah - The Utah Supreme Court retained jurisdiction over four of fine counts against the state, but sent a fifth count back to a district court to determine whether or not the Utah Legislature’s modifications to a redistricting ballot measure can survive strict scrutiny. Republican legislative leadership condemned the ruling.
- Washington - Washington State Republicans gathered outside the federal courthouse in Seattle to protest the court-ordered legislative plan imposed by Judge Robert Lasnik.
- Wisconsin - The Wisconsin Supreme Court charged the people of Wisconsin with half the bill for their self-appointed special masters.
Updates to the American Redistricting Project
Blog: ARP has a new blog series diving into the Detailed Ancestry Characteristics available in the 2020 Census Data. The series is available here.