Pennsylvania court orders new congressional map due to gerrymandering

Pennsylvania’s top court on Monday threw out the state’s congressional map, ruling that Republican legislators unlawfully sought partisan advantage, and gave them three weeks to rework it in a decision that could boost Democratic chances of retaking the U.S. House of Representatives.

In a 5-2 decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled the electoral map violated the state’s Constitution by manipulating the district boundaries to marginalize Democratic voters, a practice called partisan gerrymandering.

Continue reading:  Pennsylvania court orders new congressional map due to gerrymandering

Commentary by The Secular Jurist:  This ruling is based on state law and not on the U.S. Constitution;  therefore, the U.S. Supreme Court shouldn’t have jurisdiction unless it decides that either the state law or its interpretation by state courts violate superseding federal law.  In the case of drawing legislative districts for the U.S. House of Representatives, that authority is delegated to the states.

This ruling in Pennsylvania could trigger other such legal cases in traditionally “blue” (i.e. Democratic) states which have been taken over by Republicans (“red”) in recent years.