Skip to main content

Newly Drawn Congressional Districts Under Fire

Support Provided By
Back to back, the current congressional districts, left, and proposed ones, right. | Image via California Citizens Redistricting Commission
Back to back, the current congressional districts, left, and proposed ones, right. | Image via California Citizens Redistricting Commission

Last week former Congressman George Radanovich (R) and four others asked the California Supreme Court to declare California's newly drawn congressional districts unconstitutional. The state's 53 congressional districts now hang in the balance. The suit asks the state's highest court to appoint a special master to draw new congressional boundaries.

This year, for the first time in the state's history, a 14-member commission drew California's state and federal legislative districts. In the past incumbent legislators, with an obvious stake in the size and shape of districts, drew legislative district lines. Two successful ballot measures, passed in 2008 and 2010, took that power away from legislators.

Opponents of the new district lines had begun a drive to qualify a ballot measure, which would have asked voters to weigh in on the maps. However, that referendum effort has slowed to a near halt. (There is a separate effort to qualify a ballot measure to overturn the state's newly drawn Senate districts.) For opponents of the congressional lines, the the next stop is the courthouse, not the ballot box.

In the suit, opponents of the newly drawn lines allege, in part, that the commission drew unconstitutional lines in three Los Angeles Congressional districts. The argument is under the federal Voting Rights Act (VRA) at least one, and perhaps two, of those districts should have been drawn to include a majority of African American voters, but instead were drawn to protect the three incumbent legislators. The result, according to the lawsuit, is that the lines impermissibly dilute the voting power of African Americans. Congresswoman Karen Bass (D) holds one of those districts. Bass states that none of the three districts have ever been "African American only Congressional Districts," and that the motivation of the lawsuit is to lessen the number of African-Americans in Congress.

Opponents of the newly drawn lines further contend that as a result of the illegally drawn districts, districts elsewhere in Los Angeles were not drawn to include at least one, and perhaps two, districts that included a majority of Latino voters. In addition, those filing the lawsuit claim that newly drawn lines improperly divide the Asian community in Orange County, thereby unconstitutionally diluting their voting power.

The question for the court will be whether those filing the suit can demonstrate a violation of the VRA or can merely show sour grapes. Under the lines drawn by the commission, Congressional Republicans could stand to lose a number of key seats.

Jessica Levinson writes about the intersection of law and government every Monday. She is a Visiting Professor at Loyola Law School.

Support Provided By
Read More
A row of cows stands in individual cages along a line of light-colored enclosures, placed along a dirt path under a blue sky dotted with white puffy clouds.

A Battle Is Underway Over California’s Lucrative Dairy Biogas Market

California is considering changes to a program that has incentivized dairy biogas, to transform methane emissions into a source of natural gas. Neighbors are pushing for an end to the subsidies because of its impact on air quality and possible water pollution.
A Black woman with long, black brains wears a black Chicago Bulls windbreaker jacket with red and white stripes as she stands at the top of a short staircase in a housing complex and rests her left hand on the metal railing. She smiles slightly while looking directly at the camera.

Los Angeles County Is Testing AI's Ability To Prevent Homelessness

In order to prevent people from becoming homeless before it happens, Los Angeles County officials are using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to predict who in the county is most likely to lose their housing. They would then step in to help those people with their rent, utility bills, car payments and more so they don't become unhoused.
blue themed graphic including electric vehicles are charging stations, wind turbines and trees, 2023 in reference to year

A Look Back at Climate Solutions In 2023

The U.S. may have a long way to go in its decarbonization goals, but these stories show signs of progress in climate solutions.