I am still angry as hell that republicans blocked President Obama's Supreme Court nominee and then we voting citizens gave republicans a gift for doing it. So instead of us having a majority liberal court we remain with a majority conservative one. This last election was most important in that it would decide the majority of the Supreme Court one way or the other and we got the worst of it by not electing Clinton. But the one last hope is that although the court swings conservative it still swings and occasionally it comes back liberal on some issues of the constitution. Thanks in large part to Anthony Kennedy. Although Kennedy is a conservative he is also practical about adhering to the precedents of earlier court decisions.
He even comes down as a liberal on a few issues and the gerrymandering issue is one of them. It would be a remarkable coincidence if in this current republican controlled administration that gerrymandering was curtailed in a way that made it nearly impossible for republicans to continue to draw district lines that keep them in power. They have been very successful at it since they were able to win the house back in 2010 and from that census redraw district lines that heavily favored them winning a majority of the House district seats. The Supreme Court has not had an occasion to hear a gerrymandering case that would effect the whole nation until just now. So if Kennedy can define a test for how districts need to be drawn the end of gerrymandering as we know it is on the near horizon.
You can see how important it can be to democracy and equality if Kennedy left a legacy that brought us to the ideal of one person one vote in expressing the people's representation. It would be a monumental achievement for a man who despite his conservative leanings ended up a liberal champion. We liberals have been fighting to end gerrymandering as a rule since we also were caught out using that dirty political strategy. We stopped doing it and have been fighting with republicans to do the same but they won't stop unless Kennedy can come in riding the white horse with a solution. The 4 liberals on the court are with him so the reality of an end to gerrymandering is real but only if kennedy can find a remedy in the form of a test to apply to his siding with the liberals and ending gerrymandering forever.
He even comes down as a liberal on a few issues and the gerrymandering issue is one of them. It would be a remarkable coincidence if in this current republican controlled administration that gerrymandering was curtailed in a way that made it nearly impossible for republicans to continue to draw district lines that keep them in power. They have been very successful at it since they were able to win the house back in 2010 and from that census redraw district lines that heavily favored them winning a majority of the House district seats. The Supreme Court has not had an occasion to hear a gerrymandering case that would effect the whole nation until just now. So if Kennedy can define a test for how districts need to be drawn the end of gerrymandering as we know it is on the near horizon.
You can see how important it can be to democracy and equality if Kennedy left a legacy that brought us to the ideal of one person one vote in expressing the people's representation. It would be a monumental achievement for a man who despite his conservative leanings ended up a liberal champion. We liberals have been fighting to end gerrymandering as a rule since we also were caught out using that dirty political strategy. We stopped doing it and have been fighting with republicans to do the same but they won't stop unless Kennedy can come in riding the white horse with a solution. The 4 liberals on the court are with him so the reality of an end to gerrymandering is real but only if kennedy can find a remedy in the form of a test to apply to his siding with the liberals and ending gerrymandering forever.
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