Breaking news: The Supreme Court DENIED a request for a stay in PA partisan gerrymandering case
Breaking news: The Supreme Court DENIED a request for a stay in PA partisan gerrymandering case. GOP lawmakers wanted court to let them hold off on redrawing map before 2018, Court said no.Top Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania suffered another defeat on Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court denied their request to delay drawing a new congressional map ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.
In January, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the state’s congressional map gave Republicans such a clear political advantage that it “clearly, plainly and palpably” violated the state’s constitution. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court gave Republican lawmakers about three weeks to redraw the map, and said the court would redraw the map itself if the lawmakers failed to agree on one with Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D).
Hinting that there weren’t federal questions at stake, the Pennsylvania justices wrote the Pennsylvania Constitution was the “sole basis” for their decision.
Pennsylvania Republicans appealed the state court’s ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, saying the U.S. Constitution only granted legislatures, not state courts, the power to draw congressional districts. They also said an entirely new congressional map would cause chaos in the system’s election process, set to begin at the end of February. Pennsylvania’s top election official says they can run the election in a timely manner with a new map in place.
Their request went before Justice Samuel Alito, who oversees the 3rd Circuit, which includes Pennsylvania. Alito denied the request on Monday.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/supreme-court-pennsylvania-gerrymandering_us_5a74bf28e4b06ee97af274d4?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009
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The redrawing will be done by an independent committee, and I think they report to Gov. Wolf who is a Democrat.
The lawsuit was brought by an independent group, and they already won the suit last month.
This delay was just the latest BS because the Republicans don't want to turn over the polling data that they used when they drew up the district lines in 2012. They can't delay any more because they were spanked by SCOTUS, and that's what this is about.
Time's up guys!
Thanks for the clarification. I believe they've got it started already but maybe not completed yet.
Will be completed by March, as I understand it.
after you told us our scheme is illegal." 
Off to the greatest!
There's an independent non-partisan group behind this lawsuit and they're the ones who will redraw it.
They're reporting to the Governor and I believe the SC of PA will have final review in March.
The delay was caused because the GOP didn't want to give up their secret polling info that they used in 2012 to draw up the previous cngressional district boundaries. They claimed they owned the data but it's really not theirs. State funds were used to create the data and it never should have been secret in the first place.
Of course we all know the real reason - it's their secret weapon in how they were able to gerrymander themselves into winning 15 out of 18 congressional seats. The state of PA is roughly 50/50 as far as Dem/Rep voting, and yet they won 15 out of 18 congressional seats?
What the ever-loving fuck? Even SCOTUS could see what a travesty this is.
I'm sure they had already started redrawing, since the court case was won in January. This case was heard in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court which decided in favor of redrawing the districts immediately.
The reason it went to SCOTUS is because of the Republican Party's delay in turning over the secret polling data that they used to draw up the districts in 2012. They got spanked by SCOTUS and were told that they can't delay it any more. They have to turn over the data now.
I'm happy that other states will be able to cite this case as a legal precedent now that SCOTUS has a ruling on it as well as the state Supreme Court.
