The Supreme Court put two big political gerrymandering cases on hold Friday, ordering a halt to lower court rulings that had found legislative maps in Ohio and Michigan invalid.
The justices said the halt will create space for an appeal of the lower court rulings.
That also means the legislatures in Ohio and Michigan don’t need to hurry to redraw maps to comply with the lower court decisions.
Political gerrymandering, or drawing lines to maximize the political power of one party, is one of the hottest topics in the courts right now, and the justices already have cases pending dealing with the issue.
It’s expected that whatever they rule will also apply to Ohio and Michigan.
A decision should come by the end of June.
Democrats, who expected to gain from new maps, were disappointed with the court’s stay.
“The Supreme Court has a responsibility to uphold the sanctity of every citizen’s vote to ensure constitutionally mandated fair representation for all Americans,” said Rep. Marcy Kaptur, Ohio Democrat.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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