Posted on 01/22/2018 11:35:12 AM PST by napscoordinator
Pennsylvania's Republican-leaning congressional map is illegal and must be redrawn, according to a 4-3 ruling by the Democratic-leaning state Supreme Court.
The 3-page ruling was released this afternoon.
The order says the state’s 2011 map “plainly and palpably violates the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.” The ruling directs the GOP-controlled Legislature to redraw the map and submit it to Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, by Feb. 9 and the court for approval by Feb. 15. If lawmakers or the governor miss those deadlines, the court would draw its own map “based on the evidentiary record developed.”
Gerrymandering foes urged to apply pressure A new map would impact the candidates running in the May 18 because those district boundaries could change. Republicans have consistently won 13 of the state’s 20 congressional seats since the map went into effect in the 2012 election.
Democrats quickly took to Twitter to celebrate the victory. But it could be a short one.
(Excerpt) Read more at mcall.com ...
Interesting that 6 years ago when these were drawn there wasn’t a single objection.....now 6 yrs. later.... suddenly it’s an issue.
Interesting that 6 years ago when these were drawn there wasn’t a single objection.....now 6 yrs. later.... suddenly it’s an issue.
I did notice that as well. Seeing the maps makes me think we’ll be ok since there is a ton of red.
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I despise referenda for both laws and especially constitutional amendments
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Concur...*BUT*, when a govt refuses to do its job (Constitutionally running a govt for, by and of the People) the People took it upon themselves to bypass the impediment.
Here in FL, IMO, we have the State and local kicking *EVERY* can to the A. process. Get enough signatures and you get a chance to whittle away what’s left of the Republic and your/others Rights
I think those of us in the states that flipped to RED for Trump are going to remain in fine shape. The Union enclaves (i.e. Democrats) ARE going to find/continue to have, good paying jobs and their businesses are going to thrive - despite their best efforts, and no matter how much it galls them! ;)
Every DAY President Trump gains in popularity, and he is not losing his base - AT ALL! If anything, all the cow pies they’ve been throwing at him anger us and steel our spines! Also - the info soon to be released on 0bama and Hillary is going to leave a mark. And the DNC is BROKE, their leadership SUCKS, and they have NO ONE on the bench. No one.
The GOPe and the RINOs don’t seem to be bashing PDJT as much as normal, either. Get on the Trump Train of get off the tracks!
Wait until February when people SEE MORE MONEY in their take-home pay; it’s going to kick butt! :) Yeah, it’s a political gimmick to some extent, but psychologically it’s going to convince people we are on our way to MAGA! :)
“A further improvement should be to do away with the present limits on the size of the US House and at least double the size of it in one fell swoop.”
I think it needs to be quadrupled personally. In fact, that might not be enough :-). It’s the one aspect of FedGov I want to see increase ... more Reps in the House :-).
The main reason that will never happen is control. If you’d expand the House, you’d lose the two party stranglehold (it wouldn’t cost as much to run a campaign), it’d be far more difficult to corrupt (costs a LOT more when you’re facing 1200 people to buy vs 435), and the Reps would be a lot more in tune with their constituents (an added bonus here is if your candidate lost, you probably won’t get the communist whackjob alternative).
I can’t see much of a downside to growing the House significantly ... doubling it would be a start, but I don’t think you’d see an improvement until it’s quadrupled in size or more. I know there are issues with the salaries and pensions, but that can be addressed if the idea would ever gain some momentum.
I was on a Town Hall conversation tonight for an hour or so....this was raised of course and spoken of....our guys a keenly aware this was a Demo-rat move........and the ONLY reason they acted on it is Hillary didn’t win so they’re pulling all the stunts in their books now.
Yep....long end we’ll be good to go because people are ready already to switch to this side of the aisle......and if the Demo-rats continue to look as stupid and ridiculous as they are...more will leave them. Public is tired of this...
The article reads:
....”Last month, a federal court panel in Philadelphia ‘shot down’ a similar lawsuit alleging the boundaries violated the U.S. Constitution...... Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ‘halted a lower federal court ruling’ that ordered the North Carolina Legislature to redraw its congressional map for that state’s spring primary.......The nation’s highest court ‘also is considering a Wisconsin gerrymandering case’ that could set nationwide rules on congressional mapmaking.”.....
BTW great map comparison.....
I was thinking in terms of sustained chaos to really kill off the swamp.
Doubling throws every incumbent into a district that isn’t their own turf against new blood and it also surrounds them with new blood.
But as you say, doubling isn’t enough.
That’s why I referred to steady movement in increments towards a smaller maximum population districts to happen over time. Combined with actual growth in the population the result would be constantly shifting boundaries in congressional districts. Incumbents in that sort of environment have fewer advantages. Where with a rapid one time explosion in numbers you just don’t get that, incumbents can get cozy.
Rats can’t win with votes so they turn to courts.
Of course they can.
Seat or seats get drawn for the minority district, then all of the other districts have to be drawn in around the crazy district.
In Louisiana, the district is Congressional District 2 - the Happy face district.
It runs from New Orleans to Baton Rouge with a strip in between.
Once the requirement of the voting rights act is met, all of the other districts have to be drawn around this crazy district.
The Dems are just now trying to remind that act through other means. You will notice that this decision pays no never mind to the voting rights act.
The Penn Supremes are exceeding their authority - giving ridiculous time tables and making strange demands.
I don’t think it is that bad...
You are expected to believe that the redrawn map will be less gerrymandered rather than more so.
You are also expected to believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny.
Unless:
https://twitter.com/TheLastRefuge2/status/955672643696459776
Hmm, who said last week that the Memo & its supporting docs indicated that Roberts was being spied upon and likely blackmailed during the Obamacare decision?
I hope you are right and that Republicans do EVEN better. Not sure if that will happen.
I never bought that Roberts was being blackmailed, I figured he was just a jerk. But who knows, not much surprises me anymore.
The US Supreme Court must put this decision on hold for two reasons: First, the PA Supreme Court may not have the authority to order a redrawing of congressional district maps, because these are US congressional districts and thus the federal courts must oversee the drawing of these district boundaries. Secondly, even if the federal courts rule that the PA congressional map has to be redrawn, it will take at least a year to complete the redrawing process fairly and then candidates will need at least another nine months to get organized and run campaigns in the primaries and general election. That means a redrawing process, if it is order by federal courts, cannot start until early next year. So this PA court decision is an attempt by democrat judges to disrupt the congressional district map and then not give the Republican candidates enough time to run good campaigns and win these congressional seats. This is a case of classic disruptive democrat political tactics.
So this entire decision needs to be stayed and put on hold while the SCOTUS first decides if the PA Supreme Court even has the authority to order this redrawing of the congressional district map. This is like an attempted coup d’etat by democrats to quickly seize some congressional seats by not giving the GOP enough time to get properly organized and run good campaigns. This whole thing must be stopped right now by the SCOTUS.
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