Andy Taylor: Redistricting, Gerrymandering, and Legislating from the Bench

RALEIGH – On Capitol Hill the Democrats’ desperation fuels frantic impeachment drives; in Raleigh they give up on substantive elections in favor of suing until the map is Blue. Multiple frivolous redistricting challenges, involving both state and congressional districts, are still ongoing, not least of which because certain judges have removed their blindfold to deliver partisan legislation from the bench.

Andy Taylor at the Carolina Journal has been digesting the latest judicial panel striking down Republican drawn state legislative maps for Democrats on account of ‘partisan gerrymanders’ and it’s just not sitting well with him. What specifically is causing upset? Generally, “how on earth did the court see it as violation of the N.C. Constitution?” 

From Carolina Journal:

“I have written about gerrymandering in these pages before, but the recent Superior Court ruling that the state’s legislative districts constitute an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander makes me want to do it again.   

This is a prime example of judicial overreach and regrettable encroachment of quantitative social science into legal decision making. I don’t think there’s any doubt the state legislative map in question was a gerrymander in the technical sense of the word — that is, the maps were drawn by legislators intent on maximizing their party’s representation in the General Assembly. But how on earth did the court see it as violation of the N.C. Constitution? 

I’m not going to take on the arguments about whether the plaintiffs enjoyed legal standing or gerrymandering is justiciable. Let me focus on the court’s proposition that the map in question violates three important elements of the state’s constitution: Its “equal protection,” “free elections,” and “free speech” and related “free assembly” provisions. […]”

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