LANSING – With the U.S. Supreme
Court holding that state commissions, created by voter initiatives, can
constitutionally draw the district lines for Congressional members, the
question now comes down to whether such an effort will be attempted in
Michigan.
There has been, especially since the
2012 redistricting plan was adopted, much discussion among Democrats and others
on creating a citizen commission to oversee redistricting both for Congress and
the Legislature. But so far no one has stepped forward to announce they would
undertake an effort.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in
a case involving the Arizona redistricting commission that it could draw lines
for members of Congress and that the U.S. Constitution did not leave that
authority exclusively to the Legislature, Arizona
State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (SCOTUS docket No. 13-1314).
There was never a question that a
commission could direct how the state’s legislative districts were drawn, but
following the 2012 Congressional district plan, the Arizona legislature argued
the U.S. Constitution gave authority for drafting the lines for Congress only
to it.
In an opinion by Justice Ruth Bader
Ginsburg, joined by Justice Anthony Kennedy, Justice Stephen Breyer, Justice
Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Elena Kagan, the court held that both the U.S.
Constitution and U.S. election law allowed for the commission.
Quoting John Locke, James Madison
and Alexander Hamilton, along with previous decisions of the Supreme Court, Ms.
Ginsburg said the states can view the Legislature as including all of the
public. While direct citizen participation in lawmaking was little known when
the Constitution was drafted – though such things as New England town councils
had existed at the time – the ability of direct citizen involvement in state
legislative action had become a significant part of legislative governance in
many states, she said.
And if the court held the citizens
in Arizona could not participate in drawing Congressional lines through the
commission created in 2000 to help combat gerrymandering, then a number of
other laws that affect elections, and that were adopted by initiatives, would
be in question, Ms. Ginsburg said.
The decision upheld the finding of
three-judge district court on the issue.
But dissenting, Chief Justice John
Roberts, joined by Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice
Samuel Alito, argued that the Constitution has many references to legislature
and they mostly refer to just the individual legislature.
The majority in the case, Mr.
Roberts said, has by a “magic trick” interpreted the legislature to
mean the people.
A spokesperson for the Michigan
Republican Party could not be reached for comment.
But Michigan Democratic Party Chair
Lon Johnson – who is chair until July 11 as he prepares to run for Congress in
the 1st District – said the decision of the court “sends a clear message
that gerrymandering to suppress voting is no longer a viable political
strategy.”
He charged the Republican policies
have alienated voters and that in each election more people vote Democratic.
“Republicans see the numbers. They know the only way to maintain a
majority in Michigan is by drawing unapologetic lines that blatantly stack the
deck in their favor,” Mr. Johnson said.
Now the voters can explore the
option of a “fairer system” that better reflects voter sentiments, he
said.
Sam Singh (D-East Lansing) said he hoped the Michigan voters would go
towards developing an “independent redistricting commission in the near
future.”
But will the voters take up that
task?
Several people interviewed said
there has been much talk in recent years about such a commission, but it was
unclear who might start a process.
Sue Smith with the Michigan League
of Women Voters said while her organization is “thrilled with the
decision,” there was no effort underway yet on the question.
But the league is beginning to
prepare an educational program on the question of redistricting, she said. Such
a program would look at state legislative as well as congressional
redistricting, she said.
This story was published by Gongwer News Service. To
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