Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #fairmaps
Most recents (10)
Partisan gerrymandering returns to SCOTUS today as the North Carolina legislative defendants are due to file their jurisdiction statement asking the Justices to hear the case. We’ll post it here 👇when it is available: brennancenter.org/legal-work/com… #fairmaps #ncpol 1/
The NC legislative defendants are asking SCOTUS to overturn the ruling of a three-judge panel striking down North Carolina’s congressional map as a partisan gerrymander. That ruling here: brennancenter.org/sites/default/… #fairmaps #ncpol 2/
BREAKING: Federal court rules that plaintiffs in North Carolina partisan gerrymandering case have standing to pursue claims (with one exception) and affirms earlier ruling that congressional map is unconstitutional. brennancenter.org/sites/default/… #fairmaps 1/
Decision is 2-1, with Judge Osteen dissenting. Majority opinion runs to 294 pages. #fairmaps 2/
Court says it has not yet decided whether to give the North Carolina legislature the opportunity to attempt to redraw congressional map, but says that if the NC lege wants to redraw map it needs to finish process by 9/17 at 5 p.m. #fairmaps 3/ 
So here’s one way to think of the differences over what it would take for Democrats to win a majority in 2018.
Imagine that there is a 10.6 foot wall. Democrats somehow need to get over that wall to get a majority. #fairmaps 1/
Imagine that there is a 10.6 foot wall. Democrats somehow need to get over that wall to get a majority. #fairmaps 1/
Now, one way to do so would be to build a 10.6 foot ladder - or better yet an 11 foot one because a bit of extra is helpful in these things. #fairmaps 2/
But some think, we’ll, maybe you won’t need a 10.6 foot ladder because it’s been raining a lot and I think there are probably going to be some mudslides that push up against the wall. Ds may only need a 7-8 foot ladder. #fairmaps 3/
Democrats could win a majority in the U.S. House this November, but thanks to gerrymandering, doing so would require a near unprecedented win in the national vote. @lauraroyden and I explain in today's NYT: nytimes.com/2018/03/25/opi… #fairmaps 1/
For more detail, here's the study that @lauraroyden, @yurijrudensky, and I wrote looking at the impact of extreme gerrymandering on the 2018 midterm. #fairmaps 2/
We find that to be favored to win back a majority, Democrats would need to win the national vote by nearly 11 points (i.e., 55.5% to 45.5%). That would be a larger margin than either the 2006 D wave or the 2010 R wave. #fairmaps 3/
BREAKING: SCOTUS partially stays new North Carolina legislative maps. Thomas & Alito would have stayed in entirety. Ginsburg & Sotomayor would denied stay in entirety. #ncpol #fairmaps 1/ 
This week will be a momentous one on the redistricting front - with action in legal challenges to two of the worst congressional maps of the decade: Pennsylvania & North Carolina. #fairmaps 1/ 
In PA, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on 1/17 in a challenge seeking to have the state's congressional map invalidated as a partisan gerrymander under state law. #fairmaps 2/ brennancenter.org/legal-work/lea…
Although several other ongoing cases in federal court challenging various maps under federal law, the Pennsylvania case is the first major case to raise a challenge under state constitutional law - which makes it worth watching for several reasons. #fairmaps 3/
BREAKING: North Carolina congressional map struck down as partisan gerrymander. #fairmaps
Map struck down was North Carolina’s second congressional map of the decade. First was invalidated as racial gerrymander. Lege redrew but required new map to maintain 10-3 GOP advantage. #fairmaps 2/
Here's the court's (200+ page) opinion striking down the North Carolina congressional map. brennancenter.org/sites/default/… #fairmaps 3/
Here's Justice Breyer's four-part manageable partisan gerrymandering test from today. Part 1: Is there single-party control? #fairmaps
Part 2: Is there partisan asymmetry? #fairmaps
Part 3: Is the asymmetry durable and an outlier among maps? #fairmaps
A4: No, no, no, no. In a word: NO. The “Big Sort” does not explain pro-GOP maps. 1/ #fairmaps
We explain why here: brennancenter.org/blog/what-is-e… 2/ #fairmaps
Want more proof? Consider North Carolina. NC didn’t have biased maps until 2011. brennancenter.org/analysis/curio… 3/ #fairmaps
A1: Short answer - Gerrymandering is manipulation of legislative & congressional district boundaries for political gain. But 1/ #fairmaps
It’s more complicated than that because gerrymandering, like cancer, is a broad term. 2/ #fairmaps
Just as you have different kinds of cancer (liver, brain, skin, etc) so you have different kinds of gerrymanders. 3/ #fairmaps
