Posted on 02/19/2018 12:48:33 PM PST by napscoordinator
HARRISBURG, Pa. – Pennsylvania's high court issued a new congressional district map for the state's 2018 elections on its self-imposed deadline Monday, all but ensuring that Democratic prospects will improve in several seats and that Republican lawmakers challenge it in federal court. The map of Pennsylvania's 18 congressional districts is to be in effect for the May 15 primary and substantially overhauls a congressional map widely viewed as among the nation's most gerrymandered. The map was approved in a 4-3 decision. Most significantly, the new map likely gives Democrats a better shot at winning seats in Philadelphia's heavily populated and moderate suburbs, where Republicans had held seats in bizarrely contorted districts, including one labeled "Goofy Kicking Donald Duck."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
That is factually false. The legislature did indeed come up with a map. The governor didn't like it so the Court substituted their own map - highly questionable they had the authority to do such a thing - especially since they didn't even consider whether the new map the legislature implemented was constitutional simply because the governor didn't like it.
You stupidly commented on the Heller decision without having the slightest idea what it was about (or even how to spell the plaintiff's name), so forgive us if no one takes your "Constitutional" opinions seriously.
The legal challenge to this is not over. We'll see. In the meantime, the Republicans in the State Assembly should start impeachment proceedings to remove the judges who voted to steal their authority. Even if it goes nowhere, the issue of judicial misappropriation needs to be raised.
Gerrymanders are only constitutional when Democrats do them
There’s nothing to see. This is illegal and unconstitutional, an order from a lawless and rogue court to steal 5-6 Republican seats and hence hand the majority to the minority. For decades in my state (TN), the Democrat legislature (that received a minority of the vote) stole seats from the Republican majority of voters and there was no court to “order” the GOP be given their rightful seats.
I can give you examples in several other states where Republicans are disenfranchised and no courts are similarly ordering Democrat legislatures to draw Republican majorities. This is a MINORITY party with a MINORITY of the votes represented on the PA Supreme Court STEALING the MAJORITY away from the MAJORITY. This is tyranny.
The old lines need to be reinstated at once, anything else is disenfranchisement of the voters. Utter lawlessness.
Like most progtards he has no idea what he's talking about, believing--laughably--that the Courts get to "step in when legislatures" don't "do their jobs."
First his claim is simply a lie. The legislature did draw a map. He and the other progtards didn't like it.
Second, when a legislature doesn't "do its job" the result is: nothing happens. Because in a lawful society, there is a separation of powers, and other branches of government don't get to usurp authority from each other when they're unsatisfied with the results.
That's the job of voters. NOT courts.
Doesn’t matter if they were fair or not, or did a good job or not. They have NO authority to do so; rests solely with the state legislature.
I’m really surprised and a bit disappointed you would post that comment.
Should be interesting.
Sorry naps, extraconstitutional and done in avarice under consideration of a friendly Court on appeal not blocking the map in time for the primary ... What we are going to need , as soon as Kennedy retires , are enhanced enabling laws from Congress that allow SCOTUS to “capture” extraconstitutional cases without certiorari.
Yeah we would pay for such a thing someday but with Kennedy’s replacement, we would have two decades of a mechanism to defeat liberal court treason.
If the judges retained a neutral outside consultant and ordered lines drawn strictly on the basis of compactness and contiguity, the map might pass the smell test. If they simply adopted the plaintiff's map and mandated the Democrat plan, it's a very different matter.
Since when did the Constitution, Federal, or any State have an enumerated power for the Judicial to create election maps?
Granted, Gerrymandering is an obnoxious abuse of the electoral process and a a sick infringement of voter rights.
Unfortunately, it was not struck down at birth; it should have been stillborn.
The good news out of all of this is that Republicans are shopping it around to a Federal Judge to knock it down. We will see. I knew this wasn’t the end of the story. In fact, the March election is not under the new district lines.
‘If the judges retained a neutral outside consultant and ordered lines drawn strictly on the basis of compactness and contiguity, the map might pass the smell test.’
...the justices enlisted Nathaniel Persily, a redistricting expert and Stanford Law professor...
“then” is never synonymous with “than”
‘The good news out of all of this is that Republicans are shopping it around to a Federal Judge to knock it down.’
I thought you were all hot for the redistricting; make up your mind...
James Carville once said, “Pennsylvania is Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in between.”
I am all hot, to not have an embarrassing map. That is all. Nobody on Earth who is honest would look at that map and say cool. Nobody.
They didn't screw it up. The Dem governor didn't like it so he vetoed it. That is not the legislature screwing it up.
You may think that Philadelphia only has 2 districts but you are ignoring PA-13 where they added eastern Montco to the third Philadelphia district (or rather added Philadelphia to PA-13 which was Montco) which dilutes the votes of those Montco voters.
Mentally? definitely.
Physically?
She could be a cyborg...
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