For the first time EVER, a federal court has struck down a state redistricting plan as being unconstitutional because it was a partisan gerrymander purely for political advantage. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued the ruling yesterday calling the North Carolina plan a violation of the 14th Amendment guarantee of equal protection. More important, the ruling was unanimous. In a blazing 191 page opinion, Judge James A. Wynn, Jr. said the Republican plan was “motivated by invidious partisan intent” designed to advantage Republicans over Democrats in a permanent unfixable majority. Case in point, in the 2016 election, the vote for House seats split 53-47 Republican to Democrat, but seats were won 10-3. So, a 6% advantage turned into 77% control. Judge Wynn also cited the Republican representative who drew the map saying:
“Rather than seeking to advance any democratic or constitutional interest, the state legislator responsible for drawing the 2016 Plan said he drew the map to advantage Republican candidates because he ‘think[s] electing Republicans is better than electing Democrats.’ But that is not a choice the Constitution allows legislative mapdrawers to make. Rather, “the core principle of [our] republican government [is] that the voters should choose their representatives, not the other way around.”
Boom.
Looking at the North Carolina map (and many others, like Texas) one with a functioning pair of eyes and at least a teaspoon of common sense would call those maps unfair. The Supreme Court has tried for decades to avoid ruling on gerrymandering, and has even ruled that partisan gerrymandering is OK, but recent extreme examples like North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Texas has brought the issue to forefront once again, and the courts are finally starting to come out of their collective judicial comas. Computer based algorithms allow mapdrawers to slice and dice neighborhoods in ways never dreamed possible in years past. The Supreme Court has turned a blind eye and has allowed gerrymandering to become a terminal cancer on democracy if it’s not stopped. It degrades confidence in the system and drives radical partisanship. If anyone doubts that, look up idiots like Louie Gohmert, Blake Farenthold, Sheila Jackson Lee, John Culberson and many others. Over 90% of House seats are uncompetitive. Because of gerrymandering, representatives answer to a minority base to the detriment of all other constituents. They rake in money while being grossly negligent of their Constitutional duties.
Enough of this is enough. Perhaps this ruling will finally force the Supreme Court to stop radical gerrymandering and drive the states to pass non-partisan redistricting commissions. It’s long past time that we take redistricting out of the hands of those who are advantaged by their corruption and put into the hands of those who are supposed to be served.
“People can go to the state that they want to live in,” Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-NC) told reporters Tuesday morning when asked if people with pre-existing conditions could be charged much more under the American Health Care Act.
As a sophomore letterman on the Facebook Debating Society, Pittman dropped this jewel when a commenter reminded Pittman that gay marriage is now the law and that Pittman should “get over it,” instead of wasting time repeatedly trying to re-introduce it to ban it.