Republicans ask Supreme Court to stop demand for new Michigan districts
WASHINGTON – Michigan Republicans asked U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Friday to stop, at least temporarily, a court demand that dozens of congressional and state legislative districts be redrawn by Aug. 1.
State House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, and several Republican members of Michigan's congressional delegation filed the request, saying a three-judge panel's order of April 25 "forgoes any semblance of respect for state sovereignty."
Under court rules, Sotomayor, who handles applications from the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals covering Michigan, could grant the emergency stay herself or refer it to the full court. If she grants the request it can be appealed to the whole court.
The decision by the three-judge panel determined that Michigan's current boundaries for about three dozen congressional and state legislative seats were unconstitutionally gerrymandered in 2011 to favor Republicans overall and must be redrawn. It gave the legislature until Aug. 1 to do so, or said it would redraw them itself.
Read more: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/05/10/michigan-republicans-ask-stay-gerrymander-case/1168496001/
