It Was All So Predictable
Maryland's Congressional Districts Being Tossed Was the Obvious Outcome
The big news today on Maryland Day is this:
A Maryland judge on Friday rejected a General Assembly-approved map of the state’s congressional districts that had been challenged by Republicans, calling it “a product of extreme partisan gerrymandering.”
Two GOP groups contended the map was unfairly drawn to favor Democrats and doesn’t abide by Maryland constitutional guidelines.
In her decision, Lynne A. Battaglia, a retired state appeals court judge assigned to the Anne Arundel Circuit Court case, sided with the Republican challengers arguing they proved the map was drawn with “partisanship as a predominant interest.” Battaglia agreed with testimony stating Republican voters and candidates “are substantially adversely impacted by the 2021 plan.”
Battaglia suggested state legislators develop a new Congressional Plan “that is constitutional.”
How predictable was this? Well…
Democrats have learned no lessons from their previous gerrymandering exploits based on the districts adopted by the Maryland Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission….
…No unbiased observer can look at the Hogan map and look at the Democrats map and think any the Democratic map is fair, balance, compact, or justifiable. And that ultimately, if this plan is passed, is why this entire thing is going to wind up in court. Again. Benisek v. Lamone went all the way to the Supreme Court once and it likely will again based on these maps. This will create delays and confusion for candidates and voters alike, and will costs the state more and more money in legal fees as the state has to defend itself from a completely avoidable lawsuit.
I wrote that in November. And I wasn’t the only one saying it.
That’s not to say that it was totally predictable: I did not anticipate that the districts would be thrown out in state court: I expected this to be a Federal case, while the state courts threw out the legislative districts. I’m not sure if it holds up, ultimately; it’s hard to say if the reasoning that the language of “legislative districts” in the State Constitution referring to both General Assembly and Congressional redistricting will hold up before the full Court of Appeals.1
Now Judge Battaglia has thrown it back to the General Assembly who better get their act together quickly; they are required to adopt new congressional districts that meet constitutional requirements by March 31st. That doesn’t leave a lot of time considering the “Final Four” maps the Maryland Legislative Redistricting Advisory Commission recommended were very similar.
Of course, there’s an easy way out of that….
One has to imagine that a court order that the state legislative districts are unconstitutional as well will be forthcoming soon as well
All of this was avoidable. All of this the Democrats could have avoided. Had the Democrats just done the right thing from the start, we wouldn’t be where we are. The primary wouldn’t be delayed. The Constitution would not have been found to apply to legislative districts. They wouldn’t be forced to come up with a fair map on the fly in less than six days.
But instead, the Democrats again chose gerrymandering over good government. And now, the General Assembly has been plunged into late session chaos over it.
Way to work yourselves into a shoot, Democrats.
Nor do I know if it can be appealed federally. I’m not a lawyer but I’m not sure the limits of Supreme Court jurisdiction over how states and courts interpret state constitutions.
It was more predictable that the corrupt Maryland Democrats would gerrymander than that it would be thrown out. They got away with it last time. Since this decision is subject to appeal, it's still uncertain whether they will get away with it again. The big question now is whether the Democrats will comply with the judicial decision. Neither Maryland party believes in the rule of law (Hogan was only for fair redistricting because it is politically advantageous; he has freely flouted the rule of law in procurement and in transportation planning).