I should probably write something on today's Supreme Court decision in the case of Vieth v. Jubelirer which concerned political gerrymandering. I am strongly opposed to gerrymandering and this is a subject that interests me greatly. But I just don't have that much to say on the decision itself. The decision was not over whether gerrymandering is good for our democracy or even whether it is constitutional. Rather it was whether there were any standards the court could be guided by to even decide whether a given political gerrymandering scheme is constitutional. Four justices today believed there were none and a fifth (J. Kennedy) was only willing to say that none have been found yet. In effect, for now, the court has determined that the issue is nonjusticiable, that is it is not a proper issue for the court to decide on the merits. And I tend to agree with J. Scalia, who wrote the plurality decision for the court, that this isn't an issue the courts can address.
I do think people should be outraged, though, at was is going on in our country with political gerrymandering. Unfortunately today I don't have much to add to what I said back in February and back in December. Maybe I'll add some more thoughts later.
Update: For those interested in the impact of the decision itself and the justiciability question, check out Prof. Hasen's blog.
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