| ||
| ||
| ||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Supreme Court OKs federal court intervention in redistricting fightA defeat for Democrats
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court ruled Monday that federal courts can step in and draw legislative boundaries in some instances when state processes fail. The decision upholds a federal court's boundaries for Mississippi's congressional districts and is a victory for Republicans. Justices were sharply divided in parts of the ruling, but unanimously agreed that federal judges were right to block a state court plan that favored Democrats, because the plan had not been pre-cleared for racial bias by the Justice Department. Mississippi is among the states covered by the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a civil-rights era law aimed at requiring states under some circumstances to get federal approval for electoral maps. The court refused to address a broader question, which would have affected redistricting disputes in every state, about the proper venue for those disputes. Justices had been asked to decide if the Constitution lets state judges, not federal courts, handle congressional redistricting cases. Justice Antonin Scalia, writing in part of the divided ruling, said that Mississippi officials could try to revive the state court plan. On a related matter, he said a federal law requiring congressional candidates to run in statewide elections when boundaries are unsettled could only be used as "a last-resort remedy." Scalia's roleIn early 2002, with elections approaching, Scalia denied an emergency appeal by Mississippi Democrats which cleared the way for the state to use a map drawn up by three GOP-appointed judges. That map was favorable to Republican Rep. Chip Pickering, who beat another incumbent, Rep. Ronnie Shows, a Democrat. The two men were put in the same district after Mississippi lost one of its congressional seats. Robert McDuff, the attorney for Mississippi Democrats , said that the Justice Department should renew its review of the state court plan, or state officials should prod the department. Michael Wallace, the lawyer for the Republicans, said Monday's ruling should be the end of it. "This litigation has gone on long enough," he said. Scalia had presided over Pickering's first swearing-in ceremony to Congress in 1997 and he had visited Mississippi earlier on a trip arranged by Pickering's father, U.S. District Judge Charles Pickering, whom Bush has named twice to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The elder Pickering was defeated in the Senate Judiciary Committee last year, when Democrats held the majority. States must redraw boundaries for congressional and legislative districts every decade to reflect population shifts recorded by the census. The Mississippi redistricting fight was the first to reach the court after the 2000 census. Justices are also hearing arguments in a Georgia case. The cases are Branch v. Smith, 01-1437, and Smith v. Branch, 01-1596. Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
