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Supreme Court Says Partisan Gerrymandering Is Not For Federal Courts To Decide

WUNC News | By Frank Stasio,
Amanda Magnus
Published June 27, 2019 at 12:22 PM EDT
SCOTUS handed down two decisions Thursday concerning gerrymandering and the upcoming census.
SCOTUS handed down two decisions Thursday concerning gerrymandering and the upcoming census.

A conservative majority of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal courts have no role to play in deciding partisan gerrymandering cases.

Host Frank Stasio talks with WUNC Capitol Bureau Chief Jeff Tiberii about two Federal Supreme Court decisions.

The justices were considering two cases: a Republican partisan gerrymandering case in North Carolina and a Democratic partisan gerrymandering case in Maryland. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion and said the U.S. Constitution does not bar partisan gerrymandering. Justice Elena Kagan wrote the minority opinion and was joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer in dissent.

The Supreme Court also blocked a citizenship question from being added to the U.S. Census — for now. The majority opinion sent the case back to the U.S. Commerce Department to add an explanation for why they want to add the question. Host Frank Stasio gets analysis from WUNC Capitol Bureau Chief Jeff Tiberii.

Copyright 2019 North Carolina Public Radio
Frank Stasio
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
See stories by Frank Stasio
Amanda Magnus
Amanda Magnus grew up in Maryland and went to high school in Baltimore. She became interested in radio after an elective course in the NYU journalism department. She got her start at Sirius XM Satellite Radio, but she knew public radio was for her when she interned at WNYC. She later moved to Madison, where she worked at Wisconsin Public Radio for six years. In her time there, she helped create an afternoon drive news magazine show, called Central Time. She also produced several series, including one on Native American life in Wisconsin. She spends her free time running, hiking, and roller skating. She also loves scary movies.
See stories by Amanda Magnus