Gerry Rig

Apparently, partisan gerrymandering is totally cool these days, as long as it doesn’t represent the will of the voters. “Virginia’s top court on Friday struck down a congressional map drawn by Democrats and recently approved by voters, dealing a major blow to the party as it struggles to keep pace with Republicans in the nation’s redistricting battle. The ruling will wipe out four newly drawn Democratic-leaning U.S. House districts in Virginia and means that Republicans will enter the midterm elections with a structural advantage from their moves to carve out more red districts across the country.” NYT (Gift Article): In Huge Blow to Democrats, Virginia Court Strikes Down House Map. “Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, the House minority leader, who lobbied Virginia legislators to advance their redistricting push and then campaigned for the referendum, said that “the decision to overturn an entire election is an unprecedented and undemocratic action that cannot stand … We are exploring all options to overturn this shocking decision.” (Like what, asking the Supreme Court to step in?)

+ Meanwhile, following the recent SCOTUS decision, GOP legislatures are wasting no time taking a Jim Crowbar to majority black districts. The Guardian: Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and other southern states stun residents with all-out charge to redraw congressional maps to favor white voters.

+ The Atlantic (Gift Article): Judicial Supremacy Has Arrived. “The decision does not only dismantle a statute; it hollows out Congress’s capacity to respond to the country’s needs.”