A very important case, Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission is being argued at the SCOTUS on Monday.
The high court will hear a case Monday that could give partisan state legislatures sole authority to draw congressional districts, a task voters in several states have transferred to independent commissions.
The question/s to be answered are:
Issue: (1) Whether the Elections Clause of the United States Constitution and 2 U. S. C. § 2a(c) permit Arizona’s use of a commission to adopt congressional districts; and (2) whether the Arizona Legislature has standing to bring this suit.
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, but I am a resident of Arizona. I voted in 2000 for Proposition 106, and I have followed this case since its inception. Jump below the squiggle to read more.
Here's some background information. The original AZ constitution gave Arizonans recall and initiative rights. In 2000, citizens used the right of initiative and voted to remove redistricting from the pervue of the legislature to an Independent Commission. That initiative passed with 56% of the vote.
From the time Arizona became a state in 1912, until 2000, its legislature had the authority under the state constitution to draw the lines of congressional districts, subject to possible veto by the governor. However, in 2000, the voters of the state-approved “Proposition 106,” an amendment to the state constitution assigning that task to an independent, five-member body — four chosen by legislative leaders but only from a list handed to it by another state agency, and a fifth member to act as chairman when chosen from that same list by the other four members.
Opponents of Proposition 106 (in 2000) included the usual Right Wing loyalists, some of whom are still with us:
Barry M. Aarons, Senior Fellow - Americans for Tax Reform, Phoenix
The Arizona Chamber of Commerce
Bob Stump, United States Congressman, Tolleson
Jim Kolbe, United States Congressman, Tucson
J.D. Hayworth, United States Congressman, Cave Creek
Matt Salmon, United States Congressman, Mesa
John Shadegg, United States Congressman, Phoenix
http://ballotpedia.org/...
So, the commission was created, the lines were drawn, elections held, and state Republicans didn't complain. Fast forward to 2010, and the governor and legislature went litigation crazy, losing at every turn.
Ariz. State Legis. v. Ariz. Ind. Redistricting Comm'n, No. 2:12-cv-01211 (D. Ariz.) & No. 13-1314 (S. Ct.): a challenge in federal court to the authority of the redistricting commission to draw congressional maps. The Constitution gives power over fed. elections to the state "legislature," unless Congress says otherwise. As the case has gone to the Supreme Court, there are three issues: 1) whether a commission may draw congressional lines instead; 2) whether a federal statute has authorized non-legislative processes; and 3) whether the legislature has standing to bring the case in federal court at all.
- Trial court
- Complaint (June 7, 2012) and amd. complaint (July 20).
- Motion to dismiss (Aug. 10), response (Aug. 27), reply (Sept. 7).
- Order dismissing case for failure to state a claim (Feb. 21).
- Motion for preliminary injunction (Sept. 20), response (Oct. 18), reply (Oct. 28).
- Amicus brief from Burke et al. (Dec. 19, 2013), response (Jan. 8, 2014).
- 2d motion to dismiss (Dec. 23, 2013), response (Jan. 20, 2014), reply (Jan. 30).
- Order dismissing case for failure to state a claim (Feb. 21).
This case may apply not only to AZ, but to voters in seven states.
Voters in seven states — Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Jersey and Washington — have turned the process over to commissions. Connecticut and Indiana have backup commissions to draw the lines if the legislature fails. New York, Iowa, Maine, Ohio and Rhode Island have advisory commissions.
So why did SCOTUS take up this case?
And, because the case reached the Court in the form of a formal appeal, the kind over which the Court has little or no discretion to bypass, there is a separate question of whether the Court did actually have to take on the case (that is, does it have formal jurisdiction).
Amicus briefs have been filed by Mann and Ornstein, League of Women Voters, and the Brennan Center for Justice among others.
There is a possible scary outcome, considering the make up of the court. Crossing my fingers for the right decision.
USA Today has an excellent, detailed article on the case.
SCOTUS Blog details the case here:
http://www.scotusblog.com/...
This website is the work of Professor Justin Levitt of Loyola University. It details redistricting across the U.S. with maps, case law, and resources.
This is the website for the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission.
Steve Muratore has covered this issue extensively and will be at the court on Monday, as will three of the commissioners.
We'll see how this goes.