Federal 3-judge panel to decide whether state redistricting plan is
constitutional
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[July 15, 2021]
By PETER HANCOCK
Capitol News Illinois
phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com
SPRINGFIELD – Lawyers for plaintiffs and
the state told a panel of federal judges Wednesday the issues involved
in two lawsuits challenging the state’s legislative redistricting plan
are “straightforward” and ought to be resolved in short order.
But the three-judge panel hearing the case appeared uncertain about how
much time they actually have, given the deadlines that are spelled out
in the Illinois Constitution and the fact that lawmakers this year
pushed back the 2022 primary by three months, to June instead of March.
The two lawsuits – one by Republican legislative leaders and another by
the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, or MALDEF – both
argue that the new state House and Senate district maps violate the U.S.
Constitution because they were drawn using survey data rather than
official U.S Census numbers, which have been delayed this year due to
the pandemic and other factors.
Both suits name the Illinois State Board of Elections and its individual
members as well as Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch and
Senate President Don Harmon as defendants.
Those two cases have since been consolidated and assigned to a
three-judge panel, as is required under federal law whenever a suit
challenges the constitutionality of a redistricting plan. Those include
Judge Robert Dow Jr., of the Northern District of Illinois; Judge Jon E.
DeGuilio, of the Northern District of Indiana, and Judge Michael B.
Brennan of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
During a remote status conference Wednesday, Charles Harris, an attorney
representing the Republican leaders, called it a “straightforward and
simple case” that violates the “one person, one vote” principle under
the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.
He said courts have previously held that legislative districts must be
“substantially equal” in population and that the data from the Census
Bureau’s American Community Survey, which is what Democratic leaders
used to draw the new maps, should not be used for redistricting.
If the case goes to trial, which is yet to be determined, Harris said
his team plans to call expert witnesses, including a former Census
Bureau official who would testify about why ACS data is inappropriate,
as well as a data expert who would demonstrate how the use of ACS data
results in maps that are far outside the margins of what courts consider
allowable deviations in population.
MALDEF attorney Francisco Fernandez-del Castillo said his team plans to
present substantially similar arguments. But he said they will also
argue that the standard for determining whether the maps meet
constitutional requirements is to analyze them using data that the
Census Bureau provides states for redistricting purposes.
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The U.S. federal courthouse in Chicago will be the
site of a trial in September involving challenges to the
recently-passed legislative redistricting maps in Illinois. (Credit:
U.S. courts)
That data from the 2020 census will not be available
until mid-August. The only data currently available, he said, is
from the 2010 census, and if that were used to analyze the new maps,
they would not meet constitutional muster.
But attorney Michael Kasper, who represents Welch and Harmon, said
he doesn’t believe the case should go to trial because the
plaintiffs lack standing to sue and because the case is not yet
“ripe” for consideration.
He said that under previous U.S. Supreme Court decisions, plaintiffs
can sue only if they can demonstrate that they live in a district
where their vote has been diluted. He also argued that the question
of whether district populations vary too widely can be answered only
after the official census numbers are released in August.
Under the Illinois Constitution, lawmakers are given until June 30
in the year after a decennial census to approve new legislative
maps. After that, the job is handed to an eight-member legislative
commission, evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats.
If that panel cannot produce maps by Aug. 10, a ninth member, who
could come from either party, is randomly drawn and added to the
commission to give one party a single-vote advantage. That
commission then has until Oct. 5 to approve new maps.
The suit by Republican leaders asks the court to invoke that section
of the constitution by ordering Welch and Harmon to appoint a
bipartisan commission. In the alternative, they ask the court to
appoint a special master to draft valid maps.
Kasper, however, argued that such an order would be an extreme
remedy and that the question of whether to appoint a bipartisan
commission is a matter of state law and the state constitution.
After the hearing, the panel issued an order directing all parties
to begin lining up their expert witnesses and setting a schedule of
deadlines for filing briefs. The case is tentatively set for trial
Sept. 27-29.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan
news service covering state government and distributed to more than
400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois
Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. |