2 years ago
ALBANY, N.Y. — A lower court judge has thrown out New York’s new congressional and state legislative district lines, ordering lawmakers to create a new plan within weeks and issuing a decision that would inevitably lead to a delay in New York’s June primaries if the ruling is upheld on appeal.
The Republicans' lawsuit was brought in deep-red Steuben County, and there has been an expectation that the GOP would fare well at the lower level before the real battles occurred in appeals courts.
“The people won, and the politicians lost,” said former Rep. John Faso, who has helped organize Republican efforts on this year’s redistricting.
But Democrats and at least one legal expert were unperturbed by the decision, which had been widely expected.
“It wasn’t surprising,” said Jeff Wice, a senior fellow at New York Law School’s Census and Redistricting Institute who has previously predicted that Republicans’ chances at a final victory are unlikely. “There was a reason that the plaintiffs went to Steuben County State Supreme Court, and to that extent, they got what they wanted. Whether they succeed at the next level is unclear and less likely.”
The 18-page decision from Supreme Court Justice Patrick McAllister, issued hours after oral arguments wrapped up on Thursday, orders legislators to draw new lines with bipartisan support by April 11.
That would cause a major hiccup to the state’s primary process — petitions to get on the ballot are due next week.
Democrats are likely to immediately apply for a stay. Since the case involves a question of whether the state Legislature violated the state constitution, the case could go directly to the Court of Appeals, the state’s top court. Every member of that body was nominated by Democratic Govs. Andrew Cuomo or Kathy Hochul.
“This is one step in the process,” said Senate Democratic spokesperson Mike Murphy. “We always knew this case would be decided by appellate courts. We are appealing this decision and expect this decision will be stayed.”
Faso, for his part, is optimistic about the next steps. Republicans have derided the maps as being drawn by the Democratic-controlled Legislature to benefit Democrats in House and state legislative races.
“They very arrogantly ignored the will of the people and the constitutional prohibitions against gerrymandering and I think they shouldn’t arrogantly assume that the appellate courts are going to agree with them either,” he said.
Much of McAllister’s decision rested on process. A 2012 constitutional amendment that created a new “Independent Redistricting Commission” said that that the commission should vote on proposed maps twice before lawmakers were able to draw their own lines. But the commissioners were not able to come to an agreement on a second vote, meaning that step of the process was circumvented.
The new maps that he wants submitted to his courthouse will need to have “a reasonable degree of bipartisan support,” he said.
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