South Dakota: federal court ask state supreme court for advice
AP reports: The federal judge in a voting-rights case involving American Indians wants the South Dakota Supreme Court to decide whether the state constitution allows legislators to change a redistricting plan that she said is illegal.
U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier ruled in September that the 2001 plan packed so many Indians into one legislative district that their chances of electing lawmakers of their choosing in a neighboring district was reduced. She said that constituted a violation of the federal Voting Rights Act.
When state lawyers responded that the South Dakota Constitution limits redistricting to once every 10 years, Schreier asked the state Supreme Court to tell her whether lawmakers could take further action to comply with her ruling.
The state court issued an order last week accepting that question. It set a legal briefing schedule that requires all written arguments to be in its hands by Feb. 24. -- AP Wire | 01/27/2005 | Court to hear districting case