Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin redistricting case at U.S. Supreme Court could rewrite rules on gerrymandering

Date
Case
Gill v. Whitford
Expert
Paul M. Smith

If the group of Democrats suing the Badger State is successful before the U.S. Supreme Court, all states will have to follow new rules on gerrymandering when they draw congressional and legislative maps after the 2020 census.

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But attorneys for the Wisconsin Democrats said just 10% to 20% of past maps could have faced challenges under their test — and a majority of those questionable maps helped Democrats.

“It would be a select group of plans” that could be challenged, said attorney Annabelle Harless.

The Wisconsin Democrats are represented by the Campaign Legal Center, a Washington, D.C.-based group that wants to curb partisan gerrymandering by both sides. It was founded by Trevor Potter, a Republican and former Federal Election Commission chairman who drew national attention as the lawyer for comedian Stephen Colbert’s super PAC.

The test “plays no favorites,” Paul Smith, the center’s vice president of litigation, wrote in a recent brief. “It neither threatens nor shields one party’s plans more than the other’s.”