Republican Organization Sues to Stop Michigan Redistricting Commission

 

The National Republican Redistricting Trust on Tuesday filed a federal lawsuit aimed at blocking a redistricting commission that Michigan voters approved last year in a measure called Proposal 2, The Hill reported.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, according to the Trust.

Scott Walker, former Wisconsin governor, is chairman of the Trust. He said the purpose of the lawsuit is to protect the constitutional rights of Michiganders who have been violated by Proposal 2.

“Every American has the right to peaceably align themselves with a political party (or not), speak into the political process, and petition their government,” Walker said. “Any reform, no matter how poorly conceived, must achieve its goals without infringing on the basic rights guaranteed to all of us by the Constitution. Michigan’s new redistricting commission falls short of that standard by punishing the people of Michigan for exercising those rights – or for being related to someone who has.”

“No American should be barred from holding a government position because they, or someone they are related to, exercised their Constitutional rights,” Walker said. “This lawsuit aims to restore the rights of all Michiganders to freely participate in the political process without the threat of government sanction.”

Democratic Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel tweeted, “My office will be VIGOROUSLY defending @JocelynBenson and the constitutionality of the @NotPoliticians ballot proposal in court.”

My office will be VIGOROUSLY defending @JocelynBenson and the constitutionality of the @NotPoliticians ballot proposal in court. https://t.co/kDRsfcr4SE

— Dana Nessel (@dananessel) July 30, 2019

Proposal 2 moved responsibility for redrawing district boundaries from the State Legislature to a citizen commission, The Hill said.

In addition to shifting responsibility for drawing district lines to the commission, the proposition bars anyone who ran for office or worked on political campaigns or as a lobbyist within the last six years from serving on the commission, as well as parents, spouses and children of those who worked in politics.

The “citizen commission” is called Voters Not Politicians, Michigan Live said.

More information about Voters Not Politicians is here.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in June that federal judges have no authority to block politically gerrymandered maps, Battleground State News reported.

“Federal judges have no license to reallocate political power between the two major political parties, with no plausible grant of authority in the Constitution, and no legal standards to limit and direct their decisions,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote.

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Jason M. Reynolds has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist at outlets of all sizes.