Posted on 05/31/2002 12:44:46 PM PDT by jern
Judge rejects Legislature's redrawn House-Senate maps
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By SCOTT MOONEYHAM ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
SMITHFIELD, N.C. (AP) -- Superior Court Judge Knox Jenkins rejected the Legislature's redrawn district maps for the state House and Senate on Friday, making his own wholesale changes to the Senate plan.
The maps he approved in his order largely adopted Senate districts advocated by Republicans, who had challenged districts that were drawn last year and approved by the Democrat-controlled Legislature.
He also ordered five changes affecting the House plan revised this month by the Legislature. The most significant change would move Rep. David Redwine, the Democrat in charge of the House budget-writing committee, into a largely Republican district in coastal areas of Brunswick and New Hanover counties.
Jenkins' order offered no explanation for why he rejected the maps, which had been redrawn at the direction of the state Supreme Court.
"I'm fully aware that the judgment I'm about to sign, the order I'm about to sign, will not satisfy either party. That fact might well add some credibility to the order," Jenkins said.
Jenkins' order is the result of a lawsuit brought by Republican lawmakers who claimed Democratic legislative leaders improperly split counties to gain a political advantage.
Last month, the state Supreme Court also sided with the Republicans, finding that the districts approved last year violated a constitutional provision by dividing more counties than necessary. The court ordered lawmakers to redraw the maps, and left it to Jenkins to determine whether they had complied with the order.
"Our map beat their map in every aspect of the law," said Senate Republican leader Patrick Ballantine. "Our map was better than theirs. The Supreme Court called for strict compliance with their order, and we were in strict compliance."
In a hearing last week before Jenkins, lawyers for the state argued that the Legislature met the Supreme Court's requirements by rewriting the maps to split fewer counties.
The redrawn Senate plan contained districts that cross 15 county lines. The House map had districts that cross 43 county borders. The previous Senate plan split 50 counties, while the House map divided 71.
Republican lawyers countered that the districts still were not compact and that Democratic legislators did not follow the grouping criteria set by the Supreme Court.
The case has led to an indefinite delay in primary elections, which had been set for May 7.
By LYNN BONNER AND VAN DENTON, Staff Writers
SMITHFIELD -- Superior Court Judge Knox V. Jenkins Jr. ruled today that new legislative districts redrawn by legislators failed to meet the requirements set forth by the state Supreme Court and produced his own set of maps for House and Senate elections.
Jenkins' action was only the second time in state history that a court has assumed the power of drawing political maps, a power usually reserved for legislators, and could lead to a loss of power for the Democrats who control the General Assembly.
In his ruling, Jenkins made modifications to the House map that legislators submitted to him a week ago, but dramatically overhauled the Senate map, using a Republican alternative as his base rather than the Democratic plan.
Jenkins offered no explanation in his order on why he had rejected the Democrats' plans. His order said portions of the maps failed to meet the constitutional requirements in the case.
"I'm fully aware that the judgment I'm about to sign, the order I'm about to sign, will not satisfy either party," Jenkins said at the afternoon hearing where he made public his decision and the new maps.
"That fact might well add some credibility to the order." In April, the state Supreme Court ruled in a lawsuit brought by Republicans that the original districts drawn by the General Assembly were unconstitutional because they violated a provision in the state constitution against dividing counties in the making of legislative districts.
The court's order gave Jenkins the job of overseeing the redrawing of the legislative map and the authority to draw his own if he decided that legislators could not meet the requirements.
Republicans applauded Jenkins' ruling and said the revised maps would be good for voters because it would lead to more competitive races for seats in the General Assembly.
"The Senate will be competitive. That's all we asked for," said Senate Minority Leader Patrick Ballantine, a Republican from Wilmington. "Fair and competitive districts. It looks like we will have an opportunity. But it's not about taking over the Senate. It's about choice at the ballot box."
But one Senate Democrat criticized the ruling, saying that Jenkins had exceeded his authority.
"I think it is the most partisan decision I have ever seen in the state of North Carolina," said state Sen. Allen Wellons, a Democrat from Smithfield. "A small group has delivered the legislature to the minority party. I think that was the plan."
The state Attorney General's Office, which is representing the legislature in the case, immediately filed notice that it would appeal Jenkins' order to the state Court of Appeals and requested a stay of the ruling. Jenkins denied the request.
The court's maps will still be subject to review by the U.S. Department of Justice to make sure they are in compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act.
Primary elections, originally scheduled for May 7, have been on hold while the legal battle over redistricting has been waged.
Gary Bartlett, director of the state Board of Elections, said if elections were to get back on schedule under Jenkins' ruling then the earliest that primaries could be held would be the third or four week of August.
Of the 50 Senate districts, nine are centered on Mecklenburg County (whose seat is Charlotte), or on the counties abutting it (Gaston, Lincoln, Iredell, Cabarrus, and Union). Republicans should take at least six of these nine, and maybe seven.
Republicans should win Districts 35 (Union, plus 6% of Mecklenburg); 36 (Cabarrus, plus 27% of Rowan); 39 (24% of Mecklenburg); 40 (24% of Mecklenburg); 41 (Iredell and Alexander); and 42 (Lincoln, 54% of Catawba, and 15% of Gaston). The Democrats should take Districts 37 and 38 (each 23% of Mecklenburg). District 43, which consists of 85% of Gaston County, is a toss-up; Dems hold the registration lead by 45-39%, and the incumbent is a Dem, but he'll lose a chunk of Democratic Cleveland County, and the district as now drawn went for Vinroot in 2000, and easily for Bush.
Please forgive the ignorance - what is a propellor blade district?
LVM
U.S. House map signed by Graves Last Modified:
12:04 a.m. 5/31/2002
By Joshua Akers
The Associated Press
A federal lawsuit may be imminent over a congressional redistricting bill that Gov. Bill Graves signed Friday.
The measure sets the boundaries of the state's four U.S. House districts to reflect shifts in population over the past decade. Graves reluctantly signed the bill, lamenting that it was passed so late in the legislative session. He criticized lawmakers for not acting more quickly.
The filing deadline for U.S. House candidates is noon June 24, and the Republican and Democratic primaries are Aug. 6.
"Propeller blade" districts are districts which have two sections joined by only a single point. Such districts have been held in some courts to be contiguous.
For a good example (unfortunately neither county names nor district numbers are displayed), look at this map of the North Carolina House districts just imposed by Judge Jenkins:
See that bright green district in the south-central part of the state? It includes all of Richmond County, and about half of Stanly County, and the two are joined literally by a single point. Moreover, that single point (the hub of the propeller, so to speak) joins the two parts of that purpleish district; Montgomery County on the north, and Anson County plus part of Union County on the south. Thus, there are two "propeller districts" intersecting at a point.
Now, you might argue that it's physically impossible for both districts to occupy that single point where Stanly, Montgomery, Richmond, and Anson Counties come together. I sure would, and do. But some court, somewhere, decided that such an arrangement constituted contiguousness for both districts. That's inconsistent with my understanding of physics (two objects occupying the same place at the same time, and all that), but inexplicably, they didn't consult me.
As a side note, in this particular case, the point where the two districts cross each other is in the middle of the Pee Dee River, miles from the nearest bridge. So if either of the two State Representatives wishes to traverse his district, he must pass through the other district to do so.
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