A panel of three federal judges heard arguments Wednesday on a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a group of Democrats who say that the 2011 redistricting of state legislative boundaries was an extreme and illegal partisan gerrymander. Lawyers for the state Department of Justice, which is defending the 2011 redistricting plan, argued that a plan put forth by the group fails to show that the redistricting plan was unconstitutional. No decisions were issued Wednesday, and federal Circuit Judge Kenneth Ripple, the senior judge on the panel, said the arguments and other material would be considered by the panel before it issues a written decision.
In addition to Ripple, who is a retired judge from the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Chicago, the panel includes U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb of the U.S. District Court in Madison and Chief Judge William Griesbach of the U.S. District Court in Milwaukee. Crabb was appointed to the bench by President Jimmy Carter, while Griesbach and Ripple are appointees of Republican presidents.
The lawsuit, which argues that the 2011 GOP redistricting plan was an example of “extreme partisan gerrymandering,” sets forth a means to objectively measure whether a redistricting plan is unfairly partisan.
Should the case survive DOJ’s motion for summary judgment, it is set for a trial before the three-judge panel in May. Because the panel includes an appeals court judge, the outcome of the trial can be appealed directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Full Article: Judges hear arguments in gerrymandering lawsuit, decision to come later | Crime and Courts | host.madison.com.