Districting dilemma

Paper: Mt. Airy News, The (NC)

Date: March 3, 2006

The U.S. Supreme Court has no business redrawing the legislative map of Texas. But neither do the politicians.

Texas Democrats have made a federal case out of its legislature's 2003 exercise in political mapmaking. And, we must admit, the outcome of their lawsuit does have implications for many states, including North Carolina. The Supreme Court justices heard the plaintiffs and defendants Wednesday in Washington.

No one disputes some basic facts. In 2002, Texas Republicans took control of both houses in the legislature. In the following year, they redrew the 2001 congressional districts' boundaries to favor GOP candidates. As is typical with such gerrymandering, the new map had some unusual features, both geographically and socially. For example, one new district is 300 miles long. Unusually high concentrations of Hispanics were shoehorned into a few districts. In all, 8 million Texas found themselves becoming represented by new congressmen.

"The only reason it was considered, let alone passed, was to help one political party get more seats than another," attorney Paul M. Smith told the justices, arguing for the four plaintiffs.

"That's a surprise," Justice Antonin Scalia dryly replied. "Legislatures redraw the map all the time for political reasons."

North Carolina's General Assembly is a poster child for such shenanigans. In 2001, enjoying control of both House and Senate, the Democrats pushed through a map of congressional districts that clearly favored their candidates (and strongly resembled a Picasso abstract). Republicans sued and won on the grounds that the map violated the state constitution's requirements. When the legislature tried again, the Republicans sued again (in retrospect, a mistake, because the second map would have made more districts competitive, at least giving GOP candidates a better chance of winning). In frustration, Superior Court Judge Knox Jenkins Jr. took pen in hand and drew his own map. The N.C. Supreme Court found it flawed, too, thus proving that judges (and, we suggest, U.S. Supreme Court justices) make lousy cartographers. North Carolina legislators finally endorsed a compromise map in 2004, three years after the districts were supposed to be established.

Aproperly programmed computer - relying solely on census statistics and the constitutional guidelines for equal populations, compactness, physical boundaries and existing political entities, such as cities - probably could have drawn a near-perfect map and two or three reasonable alternatives in 20 minutes.

And, in fact, that's how some states have taken politics out of districting. In Iowa, frequently cited as one of the nation's best examples, the independent Legislative Services Bureau draws an ideal map. Legislators can vote it up or down, but not modify it. If they reject the first map, the Legislative Services Bureau produces a second one that the legislature, by law, must accept. End of discussion for another 10 years.

N.C. state senators Eleanor Kinnaird and the late Hamilton Horton Jr. and representatives John Blust and Tim Moore proposed a similar system for North Carolina in 2004. They envisioned a nine-member Independent Redistricting Commission that we don't really believe would have been very independent (the governor would name three members, the Supreme Court two and House and Senate leaders one each). At least the four legislators were on the right track.

The simple fact is that politicians now draw legislative districts for themselves, not for their constituents. Even more than keeping their parties in power, too many self-interested politicians want to keep themselves in office. With skillful mapmaking, they almost can ensure that no minority will ever have a chance at being represented.

When these abuses of power become so egregious that the U.S. Supreme Court feels it must step into the fray, that's a certain sign the states' voters must exercise their powers.

Citizens should make it clear that they're sick of expensive, partisan wrangling and won't elect any lawmakers who refuse to strip the politics out of legislative district mapmaking. After this November's election, we hope to see a coalition of concerned citizens start putting pressure on North Carolina's politicians to make sure that the 2011 redistricting will be as fair, independent and nonpolitical as possible.

Section: Opinion

Page: A004