SCOTUS Watch

The Supreme Court is nearing the end of its current term and is yet to rule on a pair of lawsuits with significant redistricting implications. SCOTUS traditionally releases all its opinions for the previous term by the end of June, but opinions were released in July in 2020 and 2021. Opinions in the cases below could come as early as tomorrow (the Court has been releasing opinions on Thursdays this term).

Allen v. Milligan and Allen v. Caster

The two cases out of Alabama (Milligan and Caster) were argued together on October 4, 2022. They concern whether Alabama’s 2021 redistricting plan violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. A similar case out of Louisiana (Ardoin v. Robinson) is stayed at SCOTUS pending the outcome in Milligan.

Moore v. Harper

The question in Moore v. Harper is whether a state court may nullify legislatively enacted regulations for the manner of holding elections and replace them with regulations of the court’s own devising. SCOTUS has requested supplemental briefing in the case on two separate occasions. A similar case out of Ohio (Huffman v. Neiman) also asks the court to weigh in on the question, but the court has not acted upon that appeal.

National News

Redistricting News

Democrats are planning for a decade of “perpetual [redistricting] combat” as Republicans may further boost their position heading into 2024.

Census

Despite the Census Bureau’s self-reported failure to accurately tabulate noncitizens in the 2020 Census the Bureau has mostly rejected many requests from municipalities to correct its counts. Phoenix is the largest city to date to be successful, albeit marginally.

The Census Bureau released new 2020 Census Data on Age, Sex, Race, Hispanic Origin, Households, and Housing, but delayed the release of some of its most detailed data until next year. New municipal-level population estimates show that Americans continue to move to larger southern cities.

State News

Alaska

The Alaska Redistricting Commission reconvened to consider a recent Alaska Supreme Court decision. The commission decided to adopt the Court’s imposed map rather than attempt another redraw.

Arkansas

Both a state court and federal court rejected two separate lawsuits against Arkansas’ new congressional map. Plaintiffs filed a new federal lawsuit against the congressional map.

Florida

Florida won a pair of victories in the ongoing fight over the state’s new congressional map. A federal court restricted discovery against the legislature and staff. A state court judge will allow lawyers for the state to argue that Florida’s Fair Districts standards violate the U.S. Constitution.

A settlement was reached in a lawsuit over Jacksonville’s city council map. Miami’s city commission map was blocked in a separate lawsuit.

Massachusetts

A federal judge enjoined Boston’s use of a racially gerrymandered city council map. The City Council reconvened following the order and reached a compromise on a new map for this fall’s elections.

New York

Oral arguments will be held tomorrow in an intermediate appeal of a new lawsuit aiming to force another redraw of New York’s congressional map to potentially help Democrats re-gerrymander the state ahead of 2024. Multiple opinion pieces argue New York Democrats are trying once again to override the will of voters and gerrymander contrary to New York’s Constitution.

North Carolina

SCOTUS received supplemental briefing on the effect of a recent North Carolina Supreme Court decision on their jurisdiction in Moore. That opinion is seen as a potential electoral windfall for congressional Republicans.

North Dakota

A federal three-judge panel shielded legislators from discovery in an ongoing redistricting dispute.

South Carolina

Jim Clyburn reportedly had a hand in the development of South Carolina’s congressional map. That role may be examined by SCOTUS when it hears an appeal in a lawsuit over the case next term. This new case could reportedly further constrain Voting Rights Act cases over redistricting.

ARP Updates

Blog

FLAF posted a new blog looking into 2022’s legislative election results grouped by redistricting control. The blog's findings reveal that Democrats had significant gains in states with redistricting commissions and where they had control while Republican gains were mostly isolated to the states where they drew the lines.

Litigation

Notable new filings are available for Common Cause Florida v. Byrd (FL), Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians v. Brown (ND), Simpson v. Thurston (AR) and Suttlar v. Thurston (AR) as well as dozens of filings in 19 other active cases.