Vieth v Jubelirer
Today, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal of the plaintiffs in Vieth v Jubelirer. Sam Hirsch of Jenner & Block (who represents the plaintiffs) provided the link to the Jurisdictional Statement and the Brief Opposing Motions to Affirm. If anyone has the Motions to Affirm, please send them to me.
The Questions Presented are:
1. Whether the District Court erred in effectively concluding that voters affiliated with a major political party may never state a claim of unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering, thereby nullifying this Court's decision in Davis v. Bandemer, 478 U.S. 109 (1986).
2. Whether a State presumptively violates the Equal Protection Clause when it subordinates all traditional, neutral districting principles to the overarching goal of drawing a congressional redistricting map that achieves maximum partisan advantage for members of one political party.
3. Whether a State exceeds its delegated power under Article I of the Constitution when it draws congressional-district boundaries to ensure that candidates from one political party will consistently capture a supermajority of the State's congressional seats even if those candidates win less than half the popular vote statewide.
The plaintiffs brought one-person-one-vote and gerrymander claims against the Congressional districting plan adopted by the GOP-majority Pennsylvania legislature. The federal court held that the population claims were sustained by a plan that has a variation of no more than 19 people from the norm. So the Legislature moved thousands of people to correct this minor deviation. The court essentially refused to hear the gerrymander claims. There were three opinions: 188 FSupp2d 532, 195 FSupp2d 672, and 241 FSupp2d 478. (My links are to the federal court's website.)
Comments
Would be most interested to track Vieth v Jubelirer in Supreme Court. Is a date set for presentation? As an advocate of non-partisan redistricting as practiced in Iowa where four out of five contests were competitive in 2002, I'm most interested in following Supreme Court action on the question. Davis v Bandemer opened the door a small crack and have been waiting for a follow up case. Are you interested in non-partisan redistricting ?
Posted by: Joanne Dann | July 3, 2003 9:14 AM
Can you give me more info on VoteLaw? Best, Joanne Dann
Posted by: Joanne Dann | July 3, 2003 9:17 AM
What is "Vieth" and what is "Jubelirer"? Also, which election did this occur in???
Posted by: Katie G | October 13, 2003 4:55 PM
That you for answering my questions earlier... I have a few more questions; I am a 9th grade and I am doing a research project on this case for a history project, and I'm confused. Can you give me a basic idea of what this case is about? Who are Vieth and Jubelirer and how do they relate to the case? And why is this case being taken to the Sumpreme Court? Thank you so much!
Katie
Posted by: Katie G | October 13, 2003 7:05 PM
I am a 12th grade and I am doing a research project on this case for a history project, and I'm confused. Can you give me a basic idea of what this case is about? Who are Vieth and Jubelirer and how do they relate to the case? And why is this case being taken to the Supreme Court? Thank you so much!
Posted by: Lauren | October 15, 2003 8:54 PM
Lauren:
You may find most all the info on Vieth v Jubelirer you could possibly desire at this link:
http://www.jenner.com/news/news.asp
Scroll down to the 9/4/2003 entry where pdf links are provided to the various briefs submitted to the Supreme Court. The one which you'll find most informative (albeit one-sided) is the Brief For Appellants which presents the challenge to Pennsylvania's redistricting.
The two Motions to Affirm provide the counterarguments defending the PA legislature's redistricting.
Hope this helps!
Posted by: random lurker | October 16, 2003 9:02 AM
Who exactly is Vieth? What is his background that this would upset him so much? Is he running for election of some sort or something?
Posted by: Lauren | October 18, 2003 2:21 PM
I'm not sure who Veith is, but Jubilier is the Majority Leader of PA's State Senate.
Posted by: Tim | December 11, 2003 12:34 AM