Some Michigan State Representative & State Senate Districts to be Redrawn

AvgMSUJoe wrote:This is going to fuck Michigan back to a R shitshow. Every time the door is open, the worst could possibly happen. All to protect Detroit power brokers... pretty gross.

sεяεηιτλ wrote:What's the proof that race was used in a way that violates the act?

From what i remember, it looks a lot more contiguous these days, i.e. closer to resembling squares/rectangles, etc, than the spidery mess we had under Rs.  I'm not understanding exactly what was argued here or how it was argued, but this could fudge up democrat stranglehold on state by lumping too many democrats into one district.  But we don't know exactly how it will turn out.  creating voting maps are a surprisingly complicated task.

How much you want to bet MI republicans are some how behind this? egging the right folks on and/or one of their people on the commission purposely inserting something improper in the process.  MI Rs have no qualms using underhanded methods to cause chaos.

Here is the MI house map:
https://michigan.mydistricting.com/legdistricting/comments/plan/280/23

Here is the MI Senate map:
https://michigan.mydistricting.com/legdistricting/comments/plan/281/23

The court is set to meet again Friday in Kalamazoo to begin determining next steps, such as setting a timeline for redrawing districts and determining whether a court-appointed special master is needed to oversee the process.

On Friday, a federal three-judge panel will reconvene in Kalamazoo to determine next steps following a Dec. 21 ruling that found the commission violated Black voters’ rights by improperly relying on racial data to draw state legislative districts.

Earlier Wednesday, the three judges — Raymond Kethledge, Paul Maloney and Janet Neff, all appointees of former President George W. Bush — asked the commission and the metro Detroit voters who challenged the maps to come up with a timeline for redrawing the districts and a list of possible candidates for a special master to oversee that process.

The commission could still vote to appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court, but hasn’t yet done so. At a late December meeting, Commissioner Steve Lett proposed an appeal, but the commissioners couldn’t vote on the proposal after three members abruptly left the meeting.

The commission is next scheduled to meet on Jan. 11.

Redistricting panel moves to appeal federal ruling ordering redraw of Detroit-area state House and Senate districts

Commission posted same-day notice of meeting, which critics said violates the spirit of transparency

Next court hearing in the federal case challenging the maps is set for 1:30 p.m. Friday in Kalamazoo

It would be a “foolhardy” gamble for the court to put all its chips on the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) fixing its legislative maps given current circumstances, U.S. Circuit Judge Raymond M. Kethledge said Friday as he and two other federal judges attempted in a Kalamazoo court to chart the best path forward as another statewide election looms.

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In recent weeks, the “posture of the commission has been defiance and disarray,” Kethledge said. (Not more than 25% true - TG)

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Despite the judges expressing, at numerous points on Friday, their personal apprehension of the MICRC’s ability to adjust the maps in the timely manner required to ensure legislative races this year continue without a hitch, Woods told media after court that “the commission will have the maps done. It won’t be an issue.”

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The MICRC has gone through recent upheaval, and three of the commissioners had their first day this week. (BS reporting, as this is typical churn of any appointed commission which has few reasons to meet, other than lawsuits, until the next redistricting in 2031.  Two commissioners moved out of state & one retired - not a big deal like the press is saying - TG)

Over the last few weeks, three commissioners resigned after the judges’ decision to throw out some of their district boundaries. One member cited a professional move out of state, another commissioner cited health issues. One didn’t wholly identify a reason for resigning but said, “I trust another person with fresh legs, and fresh reasoning will be able to do more democratic debate, and drawing than this weary soul.”

The Michigan Independent Citizen Redistricting Commission (MICRC) has begun the race-against-the-clock process of redrawing seven metro Detroit state House of Representatives districts before a court-imposed deadline on Feb. 2.

After a three-judge panel ruled that the MICRC had employed racial gerrymandering in its initial maps of Detroit and its surrounding suburbs, the commission was ordered to produce new, race-blind maps in less than a month’s time. In a Tuesday morning virtual meeting, commissioners began to draft the new districts. More public meetings are slated in the coming weeks.

Barring Supreme Court intervention, mapmakers are on the hook for delivering new lines after a group of metro Detroiters successfully challenged the current maps on grounds that commissioners improperly used racial data to dilute the power of Black voters.

“From my social science perspective, I view the (MICRC) as having been able to address and remedy the race-related constitutional defects in its previous map, but the decision as to whether its remedy is an adequate one is, of course, a legal decision for this Court,” concluded Grofman.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — New boundaries for Detroit-area seats in the Legislature were approved Wednesday by a three-judge panel that had previously ordered them redrawn after finding the old map was illegally influenced by race.

The newly approved state House map will be in place for a November election in which the balance of power in the chamber will be at stake. None of the Detroit-area House Democratic incumbents share a district under the new map, avoiding potential primary conflicts.

The three-judge federal appeals court panel had ordered in December that the seven state House districts have their boundaries redrawn for the 2024 election after it was determined that race influenced how they were drawn in 2021. Although nearly 80% of Detroit residents are Black, the panel said that the Black voting age population in the 13 Detroit-area districts mostly ranges from 35% to 45%, with one being as low as 19%.

A redistricting commission responsible for redrawing the state’s legislative and congressional maps in 2021 was tasked with drafting a new state House map in the first months of the year before a public hearing process began to gather feedback. The commission submitted the new map in early March, and the three-judge panel had until March 29 to approve it.

While the panel only requested seven seats redrawn, the boundaries of 15 state House seats were altered to accommodate the new districts.

The original lawsuit contesting the Detroit-area seats was filed by a group of Black residents who argued that the map diluted their voting power. The group had similarly opposed the newly submitted map, saying it favors incumbents elected under the previous map and doesn’t include enough majority-black districts.

The three-judge panel disagreed in its approval of the map and pointed to the fact that the new “plan created three majority-black districts, whereas before there were none.”

“Federal law provides us no basis to reject the Commission’s remedial House plan,” the panel wrote in an 11-page decision released Wednesday.

Six state Senate districts will still need to be redrawn by a later deadline due to senators’ terms not expiring until 2026.

A federal judge has set a timeline for the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) to redraw half-a-dozen state Senate districts.

Filing on behalf of a three-judge panel, U.S. District Judge Paul Maloney on Tuesday set a final deadline of July 26 for approval of a new Senate map previously ordered as a result of a 2022 lawsuit.

“Currently, the parties are to meet and confer-and jointly submit, no later than April 12, 2024 — a proposed timeline for preparing a Senate remedial plan,” wrote Maloney. “The Court intends to approve a Senate map by Friday, July 26, 2024. The parties should be aware of the final date and should schedule their Senate remedial plan accordingly.”

Final approval has been given to a new map for a half-dozen state Senate districts created by Michigan’s redistricting panel.

The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (MICRC) was forced to redrew the metro Detroit districts after it was ordered to do so by a federal court late last year, The three-judge panel determined 13 state House and Senate maps were drawn unconstitutionally and improperly reduced Black voting percentages in legislative districts impacting the City of Detroit, which is 77% African American.

In an opinion issued Friday, the panel ruled that the Senate map, identified as Crane A1, was drawn race-blind.

“We have reviewed the record before us and agree that the new Senate map complies with this court’s December 21, 2023 order,” the opinion said. “Federal law provides us no basis to reject the Commission’s remedial Senate plan. The Secretary of State may proceed to implement the Commission’s remedial Senate plan for the next election cycle.”