March 4 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

December 11 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

* New York City voters overwhelmingly approved a proposal to adopt ranked choice voting (RCV) in primary and some other elections. While I know this isn’t a universally shared view, I see a lot of merit in ranked choice voting and look forward to seeing more large jurisdictions experiment with it.

* Jim Hood, whose doings as Mississippi Attorney General have long furnished grist for this blog, looks to have fallen short in his bid for Mississippi governor.

* The “crime victims’ rights” package known as Marsy’s Law was on the Pennsylvania ballot. My piece on why it’s a really, really bad idea.

Some election results is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

October 2 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

August 20 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

A constitutional wrong to which there is no remedy? For decades the Supreme Court has held severe partisan gerrymandering to be a violation of equal protection, but for just as long it has proved unwilling to convert that holding into any sort of solid remedy. In last year’s Cato Supreme Court Review I described the resulting situation as the “ghost ship of gerrymandering law,” drifting on as precedent, yet abandoned by a majority crew.

Today in Rucho v. Common Cause and Lamone v. Benisek Chief Justice Roberts as expected recruited the votes of newcomers Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh for the position identified with Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Antonin Scalia that gerrymandering is a political question to which the Constitution provides no judicial remedy.

If partisan gerrymandering is a substantial evil worth fighting – and I believe it is – we should now get serious about finding that remedy through other means….

Supreme Court: no judicial remedy for partisan gerrymandering is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

In Montgomery April 25 is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

You should also listen to former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on the subject:

Let’s pump up @GovLarryHogan’s #fairmaps bill, Maryland. Call your representative and tell them you’re sick and tired of gerrymandering and want them to support the bipartisan commission’s map: https://t.co/9eGqRImJox pic.twitter.com/ljA7tfDVTG

— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) March 29, 2019

More coverage, mixing the Supreme Court case from last week with mentions of our remedial efforts: Samantha Hogan, Frederick News Post (with picture) and earlier, Bruce DePuyt and Robin Bravender, Maryland Matters (also with good pictures), Tamela Baker, Herald-Mail (Hagerstown), Jennifer Barrios, Washington Post, Kimberly Eiten/WJZ, Dominique Maria Bonessi, WAMU.

Also, Nina Totenberg’s approach to Schwarzenegger on the Supreme Court steps became a viral meme and I’m in it:

Walk up to everyone you want to interview the way Nina Totenberg walks up to the Terminator pic.twitter.com/iwruCvPxbg

— Mary E. Harris (@marysdesk) March 27, 2019

Another Maryland redistricting panel wraps up its work — and a word from Arnie is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

The Maryland gerrymander case, back for its third trip to the Supreme Court, was argued March 26. This Federalist Society animated video about the case has me as narrator. Jon Levitan at SCOTUSBlog rounds up commentary on the oral argument. The Brennan Center offers an annotated guide to the amicus briefs.

Lamone v. Benisek, brought to life on video is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

But wait: wouldn’t declaring a legislature illegitimate mean nullifying a lot of legislative actions that are pleasing to progressives, such as funding and expanding the public sector in various ways? Conveniently, it seems Wake County Superior Court Judge G. Bryan Collins has not signaled any willingness to strike down decisions made by a simple legislative majority, which would therefore be regarded as legitimate and allowed to stand. Gerrymanders, of course, do have a direct influence on whether a legislature adopts measures subject to simple majority vote, even as they do not have a direct influence on whether voters approve or do not approve a constitutional amendment for which balloting is statewide.

It will be curious to see whether this opinion stands up on appeal, even at the North Carolina Supreme Court, which I understand has issued some strenuously progressive rulings in recent years.

Judge rules North Carolina legislature illegitimate is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system