SCOTUS News
Allen v. Milligan
Chief Justice Roberts negotiated a deal with Justice Kavanaugh to rule against Alabama’s first congressional map according to reporting from CNN.
Alabama filed an emergency appeal (filing here) with the Supreme Court on September 11 after a district court enjoined the state from using its newly enacted congressional map after a one-day hearing. The National Republican Redistricting Trust already filed an amicus brief in support of Alabama. Justice Thomas requested responses by September 19. The Supreme Court’s docket for the new appeal is here.
National News
Redistricting News
Democrats are looking to state and federal courts to help flip the U.S. House next year, but final outcomes in many cases are still to be determined.
Census News
The Census Bureau released its demographic and housing characteristics data for the 118th Congress.
State News
Alabama
Following a one-day hearing and subsequent briefing a federal district court once again tossed Alabama’s congressional map and ordered a court-appointed expert to redraw it to create a second majority-black district or something close to it. After the court refused to stay its decision Alabama filed an application for an emergency stay with the Supreme Court.
Florida
Plaintiffs and the state reached an agreement to narrow the scope of the pending state and federal litigation to whether a district stretching from west of Tallahassee to Jacksonville violated the 14th Amendment and is allowed by the Florida Constitution. A circuit court judge ruled in favor of plaintiffs, but an appeal to the Florida Supreme Court is underway. A federal trial will begin in less than two weeks.
Georgia
A trial over Georgia’s congressional and legislative maps began in Atlanta last week. Questions on how to separate race and politics are central to the case.
New Jersey
An investigative panel cleared the Princeton Gerrymandering Project of accusations it manipulated its data.
New Mexico
A lawsuit over New Mexico’s congressional map is slowly moving forward despite Democrats’ efforts to resist discovery and remove plaintiffs. The litigation must be resolved by October 6, 2023.
New York
The Court of Appeals will hear arguments on November 15 in Buffalo over a lawsuit seeking to order the Independent Redistricting Commission back to propose new lines.
Ohio
Activists filed a constitutional amendment to change how Ohio redistricts. Ohio’s AG rejected it so they filed a new version.
The state’s redistricting commission is trying to reconvene to draw new legislative maps ahead of a tight timeline.
The Ohio Supreme Court dismissed a pair of congressional redistricting challenges after plaintiffs applied to dismiss them.
Tennessee
Liberal organizations brought a federal lawsuit against Tennessee’s congressional and legislative maps.
Washington
A federal judge ordered the state’s redistricting commission to redraw the legislative map finding the map violated the Voting Rights Act. The state is not rushing to redraw and an appeal has been filed.
Wisconsin
Speaker Robin Vos proposed a new redistricting process based on the Iowa model. Governor Evers quickly rejected it even though previously calling for something similar.
The state is embroiled in a fight over whether to impeach Justice Protasiewicz if she does not recuse from a pair of redistricting cases.
ARP Updates
Litigation
New filings are available for dozens of active cases.