Supreme Court To Hear Wisconsin Gerrymandering Case

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a Wisconsin partisan gerrymandering case – and it could effectively change the Republican Party forever:

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear Wisconsin’s appeal of a lower court ruling that found its 2011 state redistricting plan was unconstitutional due to partisan gerrymandering.

The potential landmark case could decide how far state legislatures can go in drawing up district lines for partisan gain.

In 2012, after the state redistricting plan was implemented, Wisconsin Republicans won 60 of 99 seats in the State Assembly, despite that party candidates winning just 48.6 percent of the two-party vote. According to registered Democratic voters who challenged the redistricting plan, Republicans used two gerrymandering tactics called “cracking” and “packing” to redraw the lines and dilute Democratic votes statewide:

Cracking occurs when a party’s supporters are divided among multiple districts so that they fall short of a majority in each one. Packing takes place when one party’s backers are concentrated in a few districts that they win by overwhelming margins.

If the Supreme Court invalidates the redistricting plan, it would have wide-ranging consequences:

“Although a majority of the court has suggested that states can violate the Constitution if they draw legislative districts primarily to benefit one political party, the justices have never been able to identify the specific point at which states cross the constitutional line. In this case, a lower court held that Wisconsin had indeed crossed that line,” he told CNN.

He continued: “If the justices agree, it would be the first time the court has articulated a constitutional rule in this context, which could — and likely would — have enormous ramifications nationwide.”

Wisconsin’s current maps have been frozen until the Supreme Court hears the case next term. Similar cases are pending in North Carolina and Maryland.

What are your thoughts on the potential impact of this case? Share them below!

By Ann

Ann is a conservative political blogger whose work has appeared on Bleacher Report and America Liberty PAC. Nothing angers... More about Ann

Mentioned in this article: