[EL] Supreme Court will hear WI partisan gerrymandering claim

[Rick Hasen]

Breaking: Supreme Court to Hear WI Gerrymandering Case, Gill v. Whitford, Next Term; No Ruling Yet on Stay Motion: Analysis<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93199>
Posted on June 19, 2017 6:37 am<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93199> by Rick Hasen<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>
As expected, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear<https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/061917zor_6537.pdf> Gill v. Whitford next term, with a decision expected by a year from June. (Technically the Court “postponed jurisdiction” pending a hearing on the merits, but this has to do with the nature of this coming up on appeal, rather than a cert. petition, and the open question about whether partisan gerrymandering claims are justiciable.]
This case represents the last best chance for a Court to rein in excesses of partisan gerrymandering, while Justice Kennedy, who has been the swing vote on this issue, remains on the Court.  (I’ll post more about the merits on this question soon.)
What’s notable about today’s order is that it does NOT include a ruling on Wisconsin’s request to delay redrawing district lines while this case is being decided. The lower court had ordered new lines to be drawn by November and, as I explained last night, a ruling on the stay motion could tip the Court’s hand on what it is ultimately likely to do in this case.
Nothing is certain, but I expect that an order one way or the other on the stay will come by the end of the term.
Also notable is that the Court did not issue any order on the North Carolina partisan gerrymandering case, a follow on to what happened in NC after the lower court found the old lines were a racial gerrymander.  That case likely will be held for resolution in light of Gill, rather than set for full argument, but you never know.
Finally, the Court denied cert. in the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless v. Husted<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=93131> case, about private party standing to sue for violation of a certain provision of the Voting Rights Act barring officials from denying voter registration to individuals because of minor errors on their voting form.
[This post has been updated.]
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Posted in redistricting<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=6>, Supreme Court<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=29>


--
Rick Hasen
Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
UC Irvine School of Law
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