gerrymandering
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A Dead Man's Hard Drive Is the 'Most Perfect' Example of White Supremacy in Our Lifetime
“More perfect.” That phrase from the U.S. Constitution doesn’t just encapsulate the Founding Fathers’ goal for this ever-evolving union we now call “America.” Aside from Billy Porter’s awards show wardrobe, “more perfect” also describes the 400 years of structural bigotry on this stolen soil. While many people consider “white supremacy” to be the superlative form…
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It’s Almost Decision Time for the US Supreme Court, With Questions Regarding Census 2020 and Gerrymandering High on the List
With the start of each June, the countdown begins to when the Supreme Court is expected to hand down decisions in cases that came before them in the term, and among the biggest items this term were cases involving census 2020 and partisan gerrymandering. How the nation’s highest court rules in these cases could lead…
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Supreme Court Hears Arguments on the Future of Political Gerrymandering
This year, a Supreme Court stacked with conservative judges may finally decide the fate of political gerrymandering. The issue comes up to the Supreme Court again on Tuesday when judges will hear oral arguments involving redrawn district maps—one involving a Democrat-controlled legislature in Maryland, the other a Republican legislature in North Carolina. If it feels…
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Crooked Lines: Ahead of the Midterms, 3 Women of Color Highlight Racial Gerrymandering in North Carolina
For filmmaker Yoruba Richen, the germ for Crooked Lines, a documentary about the fight against racial gerrymandering in North Carolina, was born of the tragedy that was Donald Trump’s election in November 2016. Richen, along with co-directors Monica Berra and Jackie Olive, came together to make the 11-minute short about how the Republican legislature in…
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Trump’s Top Pick to Head Census Is Pro-Gerrymandering Professor Who Thinks Black People Are Overcounted
Voting and immigration-rights advocates are alarmed over Donald Trump’s leading pick to head the U.S. Census Bureau: a conservative college professor with no government experience who literally wrote a book expounding on the dangers of competitive elections. According to Politico, Trump wants to tap Thomas Brunell, a political science professor at the University of Texas…
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The Supreme Court Case That Could End Political Gerrymandering for Good
The Supreme Court will hear arguments today on whether Wisconsin’s legislative maps are so extremely partisan that they are, in fact, unconstitutional. It’s a case that could fundamentally reshape the way politics is practiced in America. As The Nation reports, legal scholars and voting rights activists claim that in 2010, Wisconsin’s Republican Legislature sought to…
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Guess Who’s Bizzack? Obama to Host Gerrymandering-Busting Fundraiser in DC This Week
He’s baaaaack. And not a moment too soon. Former President Barack Obama is coming around after about six months of detoxing from his eight years of wypipo hell in office and will host a fundraiser in Washington, D.C., this week. The Washington Post reports that Obama will appear at a closed-door event for the National…
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Supreme Court Rules That Disenfranchising Voters Is OK … as Long as It Isn’t Racist
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a devastating blow to race-based gerrymandering Monday when it ruled that North Carolina’s Legislature used racial considerations in redrawing two of the state’s voting districts. That’s the lead you’re likely to read as news outlets everywhere report on the high court’s 5-3 decision declaring that North Carolina’s Republican-controlled Legislature relied…
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This Secret Form of Voter Suppression Might Be the Civil Rights Issue of Our Time
When federal judge Nelva Gonzales struck down Texas’ discriminatory voter-identification law on Monday, voting rights advocates applauded the ruling as if the minorities barred from casting ballots had won the Super Bowl. Amy Rudd, the attorney who represented the NAACP Texas State Conference and the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, said, “We hope today’s decision sends…
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Once Again, Judge Rules Texas Voter-ID Law Intentionally Discriminates Against Minorities
A federal judge ruled for the second time Monday that Texas’ stringent voter-ID laws were crafted with the intention of discriminating against minorities, a ruling that follows on the heels of another court finding evidence of racial gerrymandering in how Republican lawmakers drew the state’s election maps. As the Associated Press notes, U.S. District Judge…