Cheif Justice John Roberts (Photo by Brendan Smialowski for AFP)
No, state legislatures do not have almost unchecked authority regarding federal elections; state courts are empowered to decide whether the district lines legislators draw and the voting laws they write are consistent with state constitutions and legally created independent commissions and other entities having legitimate roles as well. That was the refreshingly sane ruling handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday. It effectively upholds last year’s rejection right up through the New York Court of Appeals of the Legislature’s obnoxious partisan gerrymander last year on the ground that it ...
