{"id":2025198,"date":"2023-09-07T20:45:01","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T00:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ohio-supreme-court-dismisses-congressional-redistricting-challenges\/"},"modified":"2023-09-07T20:52:55","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T00:52:55","slug":"ohio-supreme-court-dismisses-congressional-redistricting-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ohio-supreme-court-dismisses-congressional-redistricting-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohio Supreme Court dismisses challenges to congressional redistricting."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fohio-supreme-court-dismisses-congressional-redistricting-challenges%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2025198&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div data-post-content=\"true\" class=\"post_content\" id=\"post_content\">\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>Exciting news! The Ohio Supreme Court has officially \u2063dismissed two legal challenges to the state&#8217;s post-2020 Census \u2063<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/anti-trump-impeachment-republican-adam-kinzinger-announces-retirement\/\" title=\"Anti-Trump Impeachment Republican Adam Kinzinger Announces Retirement\">congressional district map<\/a>, solidifying them\u200c for\u2062 the upcoming 2024\u2062 election cycle. You can read the court&#8217;s dismissal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democracydocket.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/2023-09-07-order-lwv.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>The dismissals\u200b were briefly mentioned in \u2062a recent update from the Ohio Supreme Court, which you \u2062can \u200cfind <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.ohio.gov\/rod\/docs\/pdf\/0\/2022\/2022-ohio-2471.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.supremecourt.ohio.gov\/rod\/docs\/pdf\/0\/2022\/2022-Ohio-1727.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>. The plaintiffs in Neiman v LaRose and League of Women\u200b Voters of Ohio v Ohio Redistricting Commission decided to drop their lawsuits.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>But don&#8217;t worry, there are still plenty of redistricting lawsuits happening across the country. In fact, dozens\u2062 of similar cases are currently proceeding or pending in \u200cstate\u200d and federal courts. One \u200cnotable case in South Carolina is\u200c set to be \u200cheard by\u200b the United States \u2064Supreme Court\u200b on October 11. You can read more about it\u2063 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/in-depth-federal-state-lawsuits-seek-constitutional-clarity-on-racial-gerrymanders-5487404\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"shortcode\">\n<div class=\"border-comp-divider mb-4 mr-4 w-full max-w-[500px] border px-5 py-4 text-[16px] leading-[20px] text-[#262626] md:float-left\" id=\"in_article_related_stories\">\n<div class=\"mb-3 font-sans text-[16px] font-semibold uppercase leading-[19px] text-[#2F2F2F]\">Related Stories<\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex gap-2\">\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-2\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/supreme-court-rules-in-ohio-redistricting-dispute-5383907\">Supreme Court Rules in Ohio Redistricting Dispute<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">7\/10\/2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"shrink-0 basis-[120px]\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/supreme-court-rules-in-ohio-redistricting-dispute-5383907\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex gap-2\">\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-2\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/supreme-court-wont-hear-ohios-lawsuit-over-using-pandemic-relief-for-tax-cuts-5326791\">Supreme Court Won\u2019t Hear Ohio\u2019s Lawsuit Over\u2063 Using Pandemic Relief for\u2064 Tax Cuts<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">6\/12\/2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"shrink-0 basis-[120px]\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/supreme-court-wont-hear-ohios-lawsuit-over-using-pandemic-relief-for-tax-cuts-5326791\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Most of the challenges\u2064 are 1965 Voter\u200b Rights Act \u200cSection 2 claims relating to &#8220;racial\u200c gerrymandering&#8221; in either \u2062&#8221;cracking&#8221; minority communities into multiple \u2063districts or &#8220;packing&#8221; them into one district. The Ohio suits mostly alleged &#8220;cracking&#8221; and &#8220;packing&#8221;\u200b by Republicans was simple, but nevertheless illegal, \u200bpolitical gamesmanship.<\/p>\n<p>The legislative districts adopted by the seven-member Ohio Redistricting Commission in\u200b 2021\u2063 and signed into law that November by Gov. Mike DeWine\u2062 drew lawsuits from numerous \u200cgroups claiming they were \u200bunfairly gerrymandered by GOP leaders.<\/p>\n<p>Among \u2063them was Neiman v LaRose, filed March 21, 2022,\u2062 on behalf of Meryl Neiman and 11 other \u2063individual Ohio voters by Columbus attorney Donald McTigue with support from two high-powered, Washington-based law\u200d firms affiliated with the \u200cDemocrat party.<\/p>\n<div class=\"shortcode post-related-videos\">\n<div class=\"lazyload-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"lazyload-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Assisting in Neiman were attorneys from the Elias Law Group headed by Marc Elias, an \u2062<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ohio-supreme-court-dismisses-congressional-redistricting-challenges\/\" title=\"Ohio Supreme Court dismisses challenges to congressional redistricting.\">elections law litigator affiliated<\/a> with the Democratic National Committee, and \u200cfrom Covington &#038;\u2063 Burling, where former Obama administration Attorney General Eric Holder\u200d leads a \u200d&#8221;gerrymandering reform&#8221; practice \u2064in association with the National Democratic Redistricting Committee.<\/p>\n<p>The gaggle of challenges was consolidated \u2063into \u200cNeiman and heard before the \u200bOhio Supreme \u2062Court on July 19, 2022, which agreed\u2063 that the \u200cstate&#8217;s congressional district map, even after failings were \u200dallegedly addressed in a &#8220;March 2, 2022 Plan,&#8221; was still rigged\u2064 to unfairly handicap Democrat candidates and, therefore, still unconstitutional.<\/p>\n<p>The court ordered Ohio lawmakers or the commission to redraw a new\u2063 state \u200ccongressional district map for\u200c the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nevada-to-hold-first-presidential-primary-of-2024-election-cycle\/\" title=\"Nevada To Hold First Presidential Primary Of 2024 Election Cycle\">2024 election cycle<\/a> in\u200c a partisan 4-3 \u2064decision opposed by the bench&#8217;s three Republican justices.<\/p>\n<p>Subsequent maps were also rejected in the same 4-3 \u2064votes, with critics contending the Ohio Redistricting Commission, which includes the Governor, State Auditor, Secretary of State, one member nominated by the House Speaker, \u2064one nominated by the Senate President, and two nominated\u2064 by minority chamber\u2064 leaders, gives the GOP an \u200cunfair 5-2 mapping advantage.<\/p>\n<p>In October 2022, Republican state house leaders petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Ohio Supreme Court&#8217;s ruling. On\u200c June 30, 2023,\u2063 the Supreme Court vacated the ruling and remanded the case back to the Ohio Supreme Court.<\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-left:0;margin-right:0;max-width:1200px\">\n<figure style=\"width:684px;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>Ohio Supreme Court Justice Sharon Kennedy&#8217;s November 2022 defeat\u2062 of Democratic Justice Jennifer Brunner in their Supreme Court Chief Justice election is among factors plaintiffs considered in dropping lawsuits against\u2063 the state&#8217;s post-2020 Census\u200d congressional district reapportionment. \u2064(Courtesy of Sharon Kennedy\/Facebook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<h2>Judicial \u2064Elections Have Consequences<\/h2>\n<p>In the year \u200csince the\u200b Supreme Court rejected \u200bsuccessive maps submitted by the Ohio Redistricting Commission, the\u200d bench had changed.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Chief Justice Maureen O&#8217;Connor, a Republican with a swing vote\u2063 history on redistricting rulings, \u200bincluding in\u2062 2022 challenges, had retired. \u2063With the November 2022 elections, Justice Sharon Kennedy, who had supported the maps, \u2062was elected\u2064 chief justice.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, in September 2022, the ACLU Foundation of Ohio filed League of Women Voters of Ohio\u2064 v Ohio Redistricting Commission on behalf of the\u2063 League of Women Voters of Ohio (LWVO), the A. Phillip Randolph Institute of Ohio, and several individual voters challenging the maps for the state&#8217;s \u200bCongressional District 1 (CD 1) and\u200c CD 15.<\/p>\n<p>The plaintiffs \u2064alleged the map\u200b &#8220;cracks&#8221; Democratic voters from multiple\u2064 counties into CD\u200b 1 and CD 15 to make them more favorable \u2062to Republicans. \u2064It wanted the entire 15-district map tossed and re-charted.<\/p>\n<p>In\u2064 its Sept. 5 petition for dismissal, the LWVO \u200bsaid plaintiffs &#8220;no longer seek to pursue the relief \u2063requested in the complaint. In lieu of the continued turmoil brought about by \u200bcycles \u200dof\u2064 redrawn maps and ensuing litigation, petitioners accede to the status quo of the &#8216;March 2, 2022 plan.&#8217; That plan \u200dwill provide Ohio voters with \u200bthe certainty they deserve for the 2024 \u2064election \u2063cycle.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>According to the \u2062LWVO, the &#8216;March 2\u200b Plan&#8217; \u200b&#8221;partially \u2062remedied the \u2064undue partisan bias reflected in district\u200d lines used in\u200b some parts of the state &#8230; \u2063and the Court found it did \u2064cure the undue \u2064subdivision splits&#8221; in \u200bearlier map proposals, but that it &#8220;still reflected undue\u2064 favoritism for \u2062the \u200dmajority party.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>At the end \u2064of their\u200d four-page Sept. \u200b5 petition for dismissal, Neiman plaintiffs said, &#8220;Given the &#8216;March 2 \u2064plan&#8217; is, at least, a partial\u2064 (Italicized in petition) remedy, and given the substantial costs and uncertainty that further litigation would entail, petitioners have decided to no longer\u200c pursue their challenge to the &#8216;March 2 \u200bplan.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>With\u2064 the Dec.\u2062 15 deadline for candidates \u200bseeking\u200d to run \u2063in\u200b the March\u2064 19, 2024 primary for office \u2064in the \u2062state&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ohio-supreme-court-throws-out-gop-drawn-congressional-map-that-bolstered-republicans-statewide\/\" title=\"Ohio Supreme Court Throws Out GOP-Drawn Congressional Map That Bolstered Republicans Statewide\">15 congressional districts<\/a>, 33 \u200cstate senate districts,\u2063 and\u200c 99 state house\u2064 districts approaching, plaintiffs said the case would take too \u2064much time to resolve.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n    <em>Neiman<\/em> plaintiffs &#8220;strongly\u200c believe this is the best result under the circumstances\u2063 for the people of\u2064 Ohio,\u200b who deserve certainty about the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pelosi-who-claims-to-oppose-gerrymandering-funnels-300000-to-democratic-gerrymandering-group\/\" title=\"Pelosi, Who Claims to Oppose Gerrymandering, Funnels 0,000 to Democratic Gerrymandering Group\">congressional map<\/a> that they will be \u200cvoting \u200cunder in this cycle, at the \u2064very least,&#8221; the petition states.\n  <\/div>\n<p>Of\u2064 course,\u200c the suits weren&#8217;t likely to produce \u2062a more amenable outcome\u2063 for critics \u200cbecause it was unlikely the GOP-controlled\u2062 Legislature, \u2064or the even more Republican-dominant Supreme Court, would\u2064 have\u200d crafted m<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Ohio Supreme Court has officially dismissed two legal challenges to the state&#8217;s post-2020 Census congressional district map. This solidifies the map for the 2024 election cycle. The dismissals were mentioned in a brief update from the court, without any further comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":509,"featured_media":2025199,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2025198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2025198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/509"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2025198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2025198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2025199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2025198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2025198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2025198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}