CASE SUMMARY

On May 15, 2022, a group of New York voters filed a lawsuit against New York’s Governor, state legislative leaders, State Board of Elections, and State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment challenging the state’s enacted state Assembly redistricting plan as unconstitutional. Petitioners alleged the Assembly plan was unconstitutionally enacted because the New York Legislature failed to receive a second plan proposal from the state’s redistricting commission before enacting their own plan, citing the New York Court of Appeals’ decision striking down the state’s congressional and state Senate plans as procedurally invalid in Harkenrider v. Hochul. They sought a judicial declaration that the Assembly plan was unconstitutional, an order appointing a special master to adopt a lawful remedial plan, and for the court to adjust the 2022 primary election schedule and candidate filing deadlines to accommodate remedial proceedings.

  • On May 25, 2022, the trial court denied the petition on the grounds the petitioners waited too long to bring their action and the 2022 election processes were too far along for judicial interruption. Petitioners appealed to the New York Court of Appeals the same day but, on May 27, the Court transferred the case down to the appellate division as the proper venue for the appeal.
  • On June 10, 2022, the appellate division struck down the Assembly plan as procedurally unconstitutional but nevertheless ordered it be used in the 2022 election as it was too late to obtain a remedy before then. The court remanded the case back to the trial court to determine the proper means for redrawing the map.
  • On September 29, 2022, the trial court ordered the redistricting commission to reconvene and draft a state Assembly plan using the state constitution’s redistricting procedures with slight modifications made by the court. The Commission needed to publicly release its Assembly plan proposals by December 2, 2022, and submit its proposal to the legislature for its consideration by April 28, 2023. The Commission ultimately released its Assembly plan proposal on December 1, 2022.
  • The petitioners appealed the trial court’s remedial decision to the appellate division on October 17, 2022, and the appellate division affirmed the remedial commission-led process on January 24, 2023.
  • On February 15, 2023, the petitioners appealed to the New York Court of Appeals, which dismissed their appeal on April 20, 2023.

Related Case: Harkenrider v. Hochul

CASE LIBRARY

Supreme Court of New York, New York County - No. 154213/2022

New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department - No. 2022-02301

New York Supreme Court, New York County - No. 154213/2022 [On remand]

New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department - No. 2022-04649

New York Court of Appeals - SSD19

Nichols v. Hochul
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