Arizona: court of appeals sends redistricting case back to trial court
The Arizona Republic reports:
The Democrats' dream of using new legislative boundaries to gain a stronger foothold in the Legislature was dashed Tuesday by a court ruling that could affect everything from tax cuts to school choice to access to health care.
A three-member panel of the Arizona Court of Appeals scrapped a redistricting plan that would have created as many as four more competitive, and some say potentially Democratic, legislative districts in Arizona. ...
The three-judge panel reversed a Maricopa County Superior Court judge's ruling that cleared the way for more-competitive districts. Most legislative districts in Arizona are so solidly Republican or Democrat that there is little chance for the party in the minority to win. The plan approved by Judge Kenneth Fields would have increased the number of competitive districts, those where Republican and Democratic registration is relatively even, to seven or eight from four.
The appellate panel ruled that Fields used the wrong "standard of review" for his ruling and that both sides must return to his court to sort the case out. Democrats and Republicans both interpreted that as a Republican victory and said it's a virtual certainty the boundaries favored by Republicans will remain in place for the 2006 election.
The suit had been filed by a coalition of Hispanic Democrats, including legislators, who said minorities' rights had been violated by the lack of competition. -- Court axes Democrats' dreams of redistricting
The opinion is here. Disclosure: I represented three citizens attacking the congressional plan, but my clients did not appeal their portion of the case.