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Court stops gop redistricting { December 2 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/12/02/state0949EST7310.DTLhttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/12/02/state0949EST7310.DTL
Colorado Supreme Court strikes down GOP redistricting bid
STEVEN K. PAULSON, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, December 2, 2003
©2003 Associated Press
(12-02) 06:49 PST DENVER (AP) --
The battle over whether states can redraw congressional lines more than once a decade heads to federal court this week after the Colorado Supreme Court threw out a GOP redistricting plan rushed through this year.
The state high court ruled 5-2 on Monday that passage of the Republican plan violated a provision of the Colorado Constitution that says the congressional map can be redrawn only once every 10 years.
A separate case in U.S. District Court, filed by a Democratic legislator, argues the Republican map violated the U.S. Constitution by disenfranchising voters when they were moved into new districts.
"It's far from over. There's still a federal case to play out," said Carl Forti, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.
David Fine, attorney for Democrats in the federal case, said he will ask that case to be thrown out because state courts have resolved the issues.
Republicans redrew the boundaries this year after taking control of both houses of the Legislature. A state judge had drawn the previous boundaries because state lawmakers failed to agree on a plan after the 2000 census.
Republicans said they want the U.S. Supreme Court to determine if the lawsuits challenging the new map violate the rights of states to set their own rules for drawing congressional lines.
Tim Storey, a redistricting analyst with the National Conference of State Legislatures, said a similar battle in the Texas courts has more likelihood of reaching the U.S. Supreme Court, which already has a redistricting suit on its docket.
In that case, the justices will review a court's decision upholding Pennsylvania's congressional boundaries, also drawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature. The court will revisit its 1986 ruling that allowed some legal attacks on gerrymandering, the practice of drawing voting districts to favor a political party.
"The safe money is that they will not tinker with redistricting. But if they throw that lightning bolt and somehow limit political gerrymandering, the repercussions would be vast for every state," he said.
Colorado's seven congressional districts now revert to boundaries drawn up by a judge last year.
State Attorney General Ken Salazar, a Democrat who challenged the GOP map before the state Supreme Court, pleaded with Republicans to let Monday's decision stand so candidates can get on with their campaigns. But there seemed little chance of that happening.
Colorado House Speaker Lola Spradley, a Republican, said: "In order to protect this Legislature's rights, as well as those of other state legislatures around the country, we will now proceed to the federal courts."
In the case before the state Supreme Court, Republicans argued the judge's map was temporary and the law requires redistricting to be done by the Legislature.
The court rejected that argument, saying: "Because the General Assembly failed to redistrict during this constitutional window, it relinquished its authority to redistrict until after the 2010 census. There is no language empowering the General Assembly to redistrict more frequently or at any other time."
The court also chastised legislators for claiming they should be able to redraw the maps "two, or even 10 times in a single decade," when federal law calls for redistricting only once.
Republicans now hold five of Colorado's seven congressional seats, but the judge's map bolsters Democrats' chances in two of those districts.
Monday's ruling was part of a national effort by Democrats to turn back Republican attempts to shore up their majority in Congress.
Democrats have charged that GOP redistricting efforts in Colorado and Texas were part of a national plan led by the White House.
In Texas, a federal court redrew districts after lawmakers failed to do so in 2001, but Republicans insisted those districts should be redrawn by the Legislature. They got their way after months of turmoil in which Democratic lawmakers twice fled across state lines to thwart a vote.
Under the plan ultimately approved in Texas, the Republicans hope to pick up as many as six seats in the state's 32-member congressional delegation, now dominated 17-15 by the Democrats.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott's office said Monday that the Colorado ruling is not relevant to the Texas dispute.
"The Texas Constitution has no provision prohibiting mid-decade congressional redistricting," said Abbott spokeswoman Angela Hale.
©2003 Associated Press
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