Morning Jolt: Democratic State Supreme Court Justices Suddenly Discover Partisan Redistricting Is Bad

It's not hard to notice that in many minds, drawing district lines to maximize partisan advantage only became a threat to democracy once Republicans started doing it.

In a move certain to upend state politics and the critical 2018 elections, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Monday that the state's congressional map "clearly, plainly, and palpably" violates the state constitution and blocked its use in the May primaries.

The justices, a majority of whom are Democrats, sided with a group of voters who contended that the state's 18 U.S. House districts were unconstitutionally drawn to discriminate against Democrats. The court ordered the Republican-led legislature to draw a new map immediately.

Senate Republicans vowed to request a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court. In a statement, President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati and Majority Leader Jake Corman attacked the ruling as a "partisan action showing a distinct lack of ...

January 23 2018

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Democratic State Supreme Court Justices Suddenly Discover Partisan Redistricting Is Bad Jim Geraghty It's not hard to notice that in many minds, drawing district lines to maximize partisan advantage only became a threat to democracy once Republicans started doing it. In a move certain to upend state politics and the critical 2018 elections, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Monday that the state's congressional map "clearly, plainly, and palpably" violates the state constitution and blocked its use in the May primaries. The justices, a majority of whom are Democrats, sided with a group of voters who contended that the state's 18 U.S. House districts were unconstitutionally drawn to discriminate against Democrats. The court ordered the Republican-led legislature to draw a new map immediately. Senate Republicans vowed to request a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court. In a statement, President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati and Majority Leader Jake Corman attacked the ruling as a "partisan action showing a distinct lack of ... READ MORE California, America's Poverty Capital Kerry Jackson Editor's Note: The following piece originally appeared in City Journal's Winter 2018 issue. It is reprinted here with permission. California — not Mississippi, New Mexico, or West Virginia —... Progressive Critics of Trump's HHS Are Sliming Christians for Enforcing the Law David French Progressive Critics of Trump's HHS Are Sliming Christians for Enforcing the Law ADVERTISEMENT The 97 Percent Schumer Shutdown Is Now 100 Percent Kaput Deroy Murdock Should historians look back at the federal government's just-ended closure as the Trump Shutdown or the Schumer Shutdown? If President Donald J. Trump had vetoed a last-minute spending bill,... The Final Year Reveals the Obama Administration's Naïvety and Arrogance Kyle Smith In a moment of woeful irony in the Obama-administration documentary The Final Year, U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power travels to Cameroon to offer photo-op comfort to families terrorized by Boko... Baseball Paintings That Double as Fine Art and Historical Documents Nicholas Frankovich 'I believe the lights were on," wrote Bobby Thomson to Graig Kreindler, who was researching the Shot Heard Round the World, the storied walk-off home run that sent the New York Giants to the... Don't Buckle on Immigration The Editors This fight — over immigration and a government shutdown — is far from over. Republicans right now are more upbeat than Democrats because it's the latter who have felt it necessary to switch... ADVERTISEMENT Northern Armageddon: The Battle of the Plains of Abraham and the Making of the American Revolution D. Peter MacLeod "Definitive . . . superb in its combination of individual perspective and strategic narrative . . . This book tells us – brilliantly – both how the battle was fought, and what it meant." - Eliot A. Cohen, author of Conquered into Liberty: Two Centuries of Battles Along the Great Warpath that Made the American Way of War LEARN MORE NFL Championship Weekend March for Life 2018 ADVERTISEMENT Follow Us & Share 19 West 44th Street, Suite 1701, New York, NY, 10036, USA Your Preferences | Unsubscribe | Privacy View this e-mail in your browser.