Supreme Court hands Virginia Democrats a win in gerrymandering case

[DonViejo]

Source: The Hill


The Supreme Court has ruled against the Virginia House of Delegates in a racial gerrymandering case that represents a victory for Democrats in the state.

In the 5-4 ruling, the justices found that the House didn't have the standing to appeal a lower court ruling that found that the new district maps must be used ahead of the 2020 election. Those new maps are already in use. Democrats claimed that the districts were unlawful because they featured too many black voters, and diminished their power across the state and in other districts.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the majority opinion, and was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Neil Gorsuch.

Justices Samuel Alito, John Roberts, Stephen Breyer and Brett Kavanaugh dissented.


Read more: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/448876-supreme-court-hands-virginia-democrats-a-win-in-gerrymandering-case?userid=57999

[meow2u3]

1. SCOTUS hands DEMOCRACY a victory in gerrymandering case

...for a change. I'm surprised Gorsuch voted with the good guys.

[Va Lefty]

2. Shocked about Thomas

[NewJeffCT]

9. I am shocked as well

I might have expected Roberts or even Kavanaugh to vote with RBG before Thomas

[onetexan]

15. and Gorsuch as well

i'm surprised it wasn't John Roberts who sided with the more liberal justices.

[Polybius]

17. Gorsuck is libertarian

I'm much more shocked about Thomas and Stephen Breyer.

[COLGATE4]

3. It's not much of a victory. The Supremes shot it down

for purely procedural reasons. They refused to consider the substance of the case, i.e. that racial gerrymandering should be illegal.

[wryter2000]

8. I saw the headline at the gym and wanted to scream

It's not a victory for Democrats. It's a victory for democracy, justice, and decency.

[mountain grammy]

10. Exactly!

[4139]

4. Wow, really odd mix of the for and against

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. That's an interesting majority/minority split -

Thomas and Gorsuch on the same side as Ginsburg, Kagan and Sotomayor, with Breyer on the other. But the case was decided on what might be called a "technicality," specifically standing, and there doesn't seem to be a clear liberal vs. conservative ideology behind it. The dissenters disagreed with the majority on the ground that the Virginia House did represent interests of the entire state, while the majority said it did not because the legislature is bicameral and therefore the House alone did not have standing. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/18pdf/18-281_6j37.pdf

[IronLionZion]

7. previous

You missed one word when copy/pasting from the article

Democrats had claimed that previous districts were unlawful because they featured too many black voters, diminishing their power across the state and in other districts.

Makes much more sense

[BlancheSplanchnik]

11. Was wondering, thanks.

[Sucha NastyWoman]

14. Thanks

I couldn’t make any sense of it before your correction

[FakeNoose]

12. Same thing happened in the Pennsylvania gerrymandering case last year

SCOTUS will not challenge the lower court's ruling, at least not whenever they rule in favor of democracy and against gerrymandering. This is great for Virginia and it should give heart to other states that are faced with the same uphill battle.

SCOTUS is listening and they will not put a thumb on the scale to help the evil Repukes. Everyone should should breathe a huge sigh of relief now!

[onetexan]

16. in deed, +1 for democracy. Let's hope the Judiciary will keeping holding.

[Nitram]

13. Yes! This is an important win.

[BlueWI]

18. Great news!

I hope this reasoning is affirmed in other cases.