California high court backs panel's new state Senate districts

[xchrom]

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/me-districts-map-20120128,0,554129.story


ustice Goodwin Liu cautioned that the ruling may have "the unintended consequence of inviting future litigants to bring their grievances with the redistricting process to the court." (Paul Sakuma, Associated Press / January 10, 2012)

The California Supreme Court decided unanimously Friday that candidates for state Senate this year should run in new districts drawn by a citizens commission, a plan that may give Democrats a two-thirds majority in the upper house.

In a ruling written by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, the court said the election districts drawn by the nonpartisan commission, established after a 2008 ballot initiative, were legal and better than alternatives proposed by Republican opponents.

The court, six of whose seven members were appointed by Republicans, called the commission's maps "a product of what generally appears to have been an open, transparent and nonpartisan redistricting process."

Even if a proposal to scrap the new districts qualifies for the November ballot, "the commission's certified map is clearly the most appropriate map to be used in the 2012 state Senate elections," Cantil-Sakauye wrote.

[HopeHoops]

1. I know who Lu is, but is this ruling good or bad? I don't know the maps there.

On Edit: PA's fucked up redistricting just got thrown out by a court.

[SaintPete]

2. Good in the short term

as the article says, it could give Dems a 2/3 majority in the upper house. Dems currently hold 63% of their state senate. A 2/3 majority is required for any tax increases.

Possibly bad in the long run, because it sets precedent for similar actions in the future which may not always favor Dems.

[HopeHoops]

3. That's sort of where I was going with the line of thinking, but I'm getting tired.