Arizona redistricting cases may be tried in November
AP reports,
The political and legal hot potato of redistricting has been tossed back to state court, leaving uncertain where things will stand when voters cast ballots next year. At stake are maps of new congressional and legislative districts that have Republicans sitting pretty and Democrats complaining that they weren't given a fair shot.A federal judge recently ruled that Democrats' challenges to the new maps, which were approved by a state commission for use the rest of the decade, must be heard in state court after all.
The challenges were initially filed in state court and scheduled to go on trial in Maricopa County Superior Court in July, but the commission had the cases moved to federal court, arguing that a May 15 filing by some challengers raised issues of federal law for the first time.
However, U.S. District Judge Rosyln Silver now has sent the challenges back to state court. The challenges must be decided there because they center on the state constitutional issue of whether the new districts feature enough competition between major political parties, Silver said.
Disclosure: I represent the plaintiffs in the Congressional case.