CASE SUMMARY
On February 25, 2022 a group of Maryland voters filed a petition with the Maryland Court of Appeals challenging the state's enacted congressional redistricting plan as a partisan gerrymander in violation of several different provisions of the Maryland Declaration of Rights and Maryland Constitution. The petitioners first argued the Court should assume original jurisdiction over this action, consolidate it with two similar challenges to the congressional plan pending in a Maryland circuit court, and decide the action on the same schedule as the case currently before it which challenges the enacted legislative plan. As for their claims, petitioners argued the enacted plan was drawn to advance the interests of the Democratic Party and its candidates and to disfavor Republicans, thereby violating articles 6, 7 (Free Elections Clause), 24 (Equal Protection Clause), and 40 (Free Speech Clause) of the Maryland Declaration of Rights, in addition to the Maryland Constitution's Purity of Elections Clause (art. I, ยง 7).
On March 1, the Maryland Court of Appeals issued an order denying the petition without prejudice to the petitioners seeking leave to file amicus curiae briefs with the Court if and when the circuit court congressional plan challenges were before it.
Similar Cases: Parrott v. Lamone; Szeliga v. Lamone
CASE LIBRARY
Maryland Court of Appeals - Misc. No. 30