1、CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i Partisan Gerrymandering Claims Not Subject to Federal Court Review: Considerations Going Forward July 5, 2019 Partisan gerrymandering, “the drawing of legislative district lines to subordinate adherents o
2、f one political party and entrench a rival party in power,” is an issue that has vexed the federal courts for more than three decades. On June 27, 2019, the Supreme Court, by a 5 to 4 vote, ruled that claims of unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering are not subject to federal court review because
3、they present non-justiciable political questions, removing the issue from the federal courts purview. In Rucho v. Common Cause and Lamone v. Benisek (hereafter Rucho) the Court viewed the Elections Clause of the Constitution as solely assigning disputes about partisan gerrymandering to the state leg
4、islatures, subject to a check by the U.S. Congress. Moreover, in contrast to one-person, one-vote and racial gerrymandering claims, the Court determined that no test exists for adjudicating partisan gerrymandering claims that is both judicially discernible and manageable. However, the Court suggeste