ANOTHER BOMBSHELL FROM EXPOSED FILES ON GOP’S GERRYMANDERING | A SCOTUS Mystery & A New Poll On Abortion Views
June 7, 2019
THE OTHER SHOE TO DROP
|“When the hard drives of a deceased Republican strategist revealed new evidence last week about the Trump administration’s decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, many people wondered whether the files hid other revelations. On Thursday, in a county court in Raleigh, N.C., they got an answer: there is potentially much more.” That’s Michael Wines with The New York Times who reports new evidence reveals how Republicans in North Carolina misled a federal court to maintain their drawn districts in the state which had already been ruled as unconstitutional.
NOT THE FIRST, NOT THE LAST
|Mark Joseph Stern with Slate writes, “The latest bombshell from the formerly secret files of the GOP’s top gerrymandering guru emerged on Thursday, and it’s astounding.” He predicts this won’t be the last smoking gun from the newly exposed files that are putting GOP lawmakers on blast.
WHY THE LONG WAIT
|Tony Mauro with The National Law Journal looks into the Supreme Court mystery of why the justices are taking so long to rule on Gundy v. United States. It has been 247 days since argument took place, and he says the long delay has been “cause for consternation among court-watchers who view the case as a crucial milestone in the effort to shrink the power of federal regulators and bureaucrats.”
POLL DU JOUR
|A new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll shows a majority of Americans want Roe v. Wade to remain the law of the land. However, it also found a high level of dissatisfaction with abortion policy overall. Almost two-thirds of those polled said they were either somewhat or very dissatisfied, including 66% of those who self-identify as “pro-life” and 62% of those who self-identify as “pro-choice.”
NOT IN THIS HOUSE
|In a closely watched state supreme court decision out of Washington, the state’s high court ruled yesterday against a florist who declined to make an arrangement for the wedding of a same-sex couple. The unanimous decision from the court stated, “The State of Washington bars discrimination in public accommodations on the basis of sexual orientation. Discrimination based on same-sex marriage constitutes discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.” Nothing flowery about that.
SCOTUS VIEWS
Supreme Court Rulings Won't Stop Republicans From Partisan Gerrymandering
Los Angeles Times“Both parties are guilty of gerrymandering, but Republicans have made it an art form. In fact, the GOP has proved that, as long as it controls statehouses, it will be hell-bent on preserving and advancing its agenda through redistricting and other moves, no matter the cost.”
Why Pete Buttigieg Is Wrong About The Supreme Court
The New York Times“There’s no depoliticizing an institution that deals with political questions and operates in the context of political struggles and conflicts. The Supreme Court has always been political, and no reform short of ending the power of judicial review will disentangle it from ordinary, partisan politics.”