South Dakota: 8th Circuit upholds redistricting order
AP reports: A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a judge’s decision that redrew the boundaries of three legislative districts in an attempt to give American Indian voters a chance to elect more Indian candidates to the South Dakota Legislature.
U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier of Rapid City was correct when she ruled that the Legislature’s 2001 redistricting plan violated the voting rights of Indians in an area that includes the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations, a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said.
The appeals panel also upheld Schreier’s ruling that redrew the boundaries of the legislative districts in south-central South Dakota. The new districts established by Schreier are being used in this year’s legislative elections. -- The Rapid City Journal
More: The opinion in Bone Shirt v. Hazeltine, No. 05-4010 (8th Cir. Aug. 22, 2006), is available here.