South Dakota legislature punts
AP reports: Not convinced that they made a mistake in the 2001 redistricting plan that kept a large bloc of American Indian voters intact, legislative leaders decided Monday to ask a federal judge for additional guidance.
The Legislature's Executive Board, which met for about an hour behind closed doors with Attorney General Larry Long and Secretary of State Chris Nelson, emerged to unanimously approve a measure stating that lawmakers do not believe they have authority to change the redistricting plan.
The state constitution gives the Legislature authority to redraw legislative district boundaries only in those years following the release of new census data, or once a decade, said Sen. Ed Olson, R-Mitchell.
Legislators do not believe they can redistrict at any time in the interim, he said, citing a previous ruling on that subject by the state Supreme Court. -- Legislators stick to redistricting decision, ask for guidance (AP via aberdeennews.com)
The late Frank M. Johnson, US district judge and later circuit judge from Alabama, said that Alabama legislators often "punted" their problems into federal court by refusing to come with remedies to obviously unconstitutional or illegal situations.
Thanks to Jeff Wice for the link.