This would fix so many problems. This and overturning Citizens United are the two most important moves we could make to improve our democratic republic. Heres the language of the amendment that Justice Stevens proposed: Districts represented by members of Congress, or by members of any state legislative body, shall be compact and composed of contiguous territory. The state shall have the burden of justifying any departures from this requirement by reference to neutral criteria such as natural, political, or historical boundaries or demographic changes. The interest in enhancing or preserving the political power of the party in control of the state government is not such a neutral criterion. More from the article: Indeed, these maps were a major contributor to — if not necessarily the sole cause of — the fact that Republicans currently control the House of Representatives despite the fact that Democratic House candidates received more than a million more votes than Republicans House candidates in 2012. It is unlikely, to say the least, that Republican lawmakers would give up this advantage by ratifying a constitutional amendment intended to undermine gerrymandering. Nor is an amendment necessary to prevent partisan gerrymandering. As even conservative Justice Antonin Scalia concedes, despite his staunch opposition to permitting the Supreme Court to strike down unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders, the Constitution permits Congress to make or alter state election regulations. And that includes prohibiting gerrymandering. So Congress could ban partisan gerrymanders by a simple majority vote tomorrow if it chose to. This problem cannot be warded off by an act of Congress. And, as discussed above, it won’t be solved by a constitutional amendment either. The only sure way to prevent such widespread gerrymanders is to replace justices like Scalia with justices who understand that partisan gerrymanders are unconstitutional and that egregious gerrymanders must be struck down by the courts.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Mar 2014 23:14:04 +0000
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