Pennsylvania Supremes to PA GOP legislature: You suck

Pennsylvania supreme court rejects GOP-drawn congressional districts

The Pennsylvania supreme court on Monday struck down the boundaries of the state’s 18 congressional districts, granting a major victory to plaintiffs who contended that they were unconstitutionally gerrymandered to benefit Republicans.

Republicans who controlled the legislature and governor’s office following the 2010 census broke decades of geographical precedent when redrawing the map, producing contorted shapes including one that critics said resembled “Goofy kicking Donald Duck”.

They shifted whole counties and cities into different districts in an effort to protect a Republican advantage in the congressional delegation.

They succeeded, securing 13 of 18 seats in a state where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans five to four.

The Democratic-controlled court said the boundaries “clearly, plainly and palpably” violated the state’s constitution, and blocked the map from remaining in effect for the 2018 elections.

The deadline to file paperwork to run in primaries for the seats is 6 March.

The court order gives the Republican-controlled state legislature until 9 February to pass a replacement and the Democratic governor, Tom Wolf, until 15 February to submit that replacement to the court.

Looks like emerging criteria of acceptability may include geometric constraints, fidelity to history, and - openly or not - that the proposed district map ground an expectation that representation of the parties would reflect the parties' shares of the statewide vote.

Pennsylvania Congressional District Map Is Ruled Unconstitutional

Pennsylvania’s congressional district map is a partisan gerrymander that “clearly, plainly and palpably” violates the state’s constitution, the state’s Supreme Court said on Monday, joining a string of court decisions that have struck down political maps that unduly favor one political party.

The court banned the current map of 18 House districts from being used again, and ordered that a proposed new map be submitted to the court by Feb. 15.

But the state’s Republican-dominated legislature, which approved the current district map in 2011, has already said it would seek to overturn such a decision in federal court.

That would set up another legal battle over gerrymanders in a year already filled with them.