Legislative redistricting plan rejected

Baltimore Sun ^ | June 11, 2002 | Tom Stuckey

[galethus]

ANNAPOLIS -- The state Court of Appeals struck down Maryland's legislative redistricting plan today and said it will draw up its own districts for election of the 188 members of the General Assembly.

The court ruled the plan prepared by Democratic Gov. Parris N. Glendening violated constitutional requirements that legislative districts be compact. It said the governor also did not give due regard to county boundaries.

The court said it will prepare its own plan.

[galethus]

Even the Democrat-appointed Court of Appeals judges couldn't stomach this naked Glendenning - Mike Miller unconstitutional power grab!

[Constitution Day]

A similar situation just happened in North Carolina.

The presiding judge ended up drawing his own maps, much to the chagrin of the Democrats.

[Lancey Howard]

I'd like to say there is hope, but this is Maryland we are talking about. The parasites are firmly in control there.

But hey, good news is good news, so for all the decent people still in Maryland, good luck!

[Overtaxed]

A similar situation just happened in North Carolina.

I thought it was deja vu all over again!

[cajungirl]

I wonder if the court will be better or worse. His plan must have been a doozy.

[Constitution Day]

I thought it was deja vu all over again!

So did I when I read the headline!

[jadimov]

Look at those crazy 2nd, 3rd and 4th districts!

[Chief Inspector Clouseau]

I wonder if the court will be better or worse. His plan must have been a doozy.

Here is the aforementioned doozy :-)

[Chief Inspector Clouseau]

Oops...beat me to it...sorry about that. And yes, it did take me five minutes to figure out how to post that! Back to work...

[Carolina]

Whew! Maryland. I thought I was in a time warp for a second.

[DownWithGreenspan]

I think the court is talking about redrawing only the STATE legislative boundaries, not the CONGRESSIONAL boundaries. I hope I'm wrong, because the lines drawn by the partisan, scumbag Democrats in Maryland are among the most biased and gerrymandered in the nation (see also: Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, California, Texas).

DWG

[BillyBoy]

>> I think the court is talking about redrawing only the STATE legislative boundaries, not the CONGRESSIONAL boundaries. I hope I'm wrong, because the lines drawn by the partisan, scumbag Democrats in Maryland are among the most biased and gerrymandered <<

You oughto see what some 'RATs did with STATE legislative boundaries.

Under the 1990 map, Illinois has elected just about equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans. Under the new, 2000 remap (where Democrats won a tie-vote on appoint comission members), the 'RATs made it virtually impossible for Republicans to win EITHER house in the general assembly. It's been rigged so every "swing" suburban area has some Chicago neighborhoods dozens of miles away that snake into the suburban districts. Under the old map, my state Senator was Pat O'Malley (R-18th), one of the most conservative senators we have in Illinois. Under the new map, O'Malley will be suceeded by Ed Maloney, a Chicago machine politician from the 19th Ward of the city. Our district is still 70% SUBURBAN, but that doesn't matter because the 30% of the district that is URBAN will vote OVERWHEMINGLY Democrat. In other words, we are subject to the tyrany of the minority.

Thanks to the "leadership" of our elected officials, my township no longer has any LOCAL represention at the state OR federal level-- only city scumocrats. Before 1990, ALL the officials were local suburbanities.

Don'tsa love it? People moved into the suburbs to get AWAY from the city, not to be sucked back in...

[FreeTally]

Does the Maryland State Constitution give the judicial branch the power to draw district lines?

[galethus]

To the contrary. I believe the Maryland plan just overturned by the Court applies to both State legislative and federal legislative districts (both of which had been redrawn by Glendenning and accepted by the State legislature). Congressional redistricting is done by the States, not by Congress.

[jadimov]

.....Does the Maryland State Constitution give the judicial branch the power to draw district lines?.....

The Maryland State Constitution gives the governor the power with the approval of the assembly. It also sets rules on how the districts may be formed. The governor blatantly violated those rules. Technically the judge should void the plan, reprimand the governor and the governor should be required to submit a new one. In this day of illegal judicial activism, the governor and legislature will allow the judge to draw the districts.-----So, the short answer is no.

Article III, Section 4 of the Maryland Constitution requires legislative districts to be substantially equal in population, compact in form, and contiguous. It also requires a legislative redistricting plan to give “due regard” to the boundaries of political subdivisions. Generally, this means that county, city, and other municipal boundaries should be left intact whenever possible. Article III also requires public hearings to be held before the State legislative plan is enacted. link

[Constitution Day]

I took the time to get these FR links together for you.
They illustrate the machinations required here in North Carolina to get even reasonably fair maps.

CD

---

North Carolina Redistricting Stories posted on Free Republic:

4/24/02: A way around proviso(NC Dems seek to amend Constitution to keep redistricting maps)

4/30/02: Court rules N.C. legislative district plan unconstitutional

5/17/02: U.S. Supreme Court Denies N.C. Request For Redistricting Stay

5/20/02: (North Carolina) State Lawmakers Being Recalled To Fix Error In Redistricting Maps

5/21/02: Orange leaders dislike new map, fear power loss

5/31/02: (Rep.) Judge rejects NC Legislature's redrawn House-Senate maps

6/2/02: Ashley Stephenson: The man behind (North Carolina) redistricting lawsuit

6/7/02: NC: Blacks complain that their voters are being gerrymandered

[FreeTally]

Thats what I suspected. Badly drawn lines or not, its not Constitutional for the court to draw them itself. I don't think conservatives should cheer when the Constitution(state or federal) is violated to get our way.

[jadimov]

.....I don't think conservatives should cheer when the Constitution(state or federal) is violated to get our way.....

I agree. The end does not justify the means. The precedent set by allowing actions such as this will surely come back to haunt us.

[jadimov]

Why do we even draw individual congressional districts? Politicians in every state (where there are more than one district) use them to further political agendas.

[Fish out of Water]

fyi