Court Throws Out New York Democrat’s Gerrymandered District Maps

Last week, an appeals court in New York threw out the Democrats’ congressional map for the state, while rejecting Republican challenges to New York’s state-senate and state-assembly maps. This afternoon, the New York Court of Appeals — the state’s highest court — ruled that both the congressional map and the state-senate map violated the state constitution.

The opinion, captioned Harkenrider v. Hochul, was written by Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, an Andrew Cuomo appointee. All seven members of the court are Democrat-appointed. The court ruled 5–2 that all three maps had been illegally drawn by the state legislature instead of by a bipartisan commission, and it further ruled 4–3 that the congressional map was an improper partisan gerrymander. Some sparks flew on the court, as Judge DiFiore accused dissenting Judge Rowan Wilson of writing “a nonsensical advisory opinion” on the proper remedy.

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Dan McLaughlin

Dan McLaughlin is a senior writer at National Review Online and a fellow at National Review Institute.

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Last week, an appeals court in New York threw out the Democrats’ congressional map for the state, while rejecting Republican challenges to New York’s state-senate and state-assembly maps. This afternoon, the New York Court of Appeals — the state’s highest court — ruled that both the congressional map and the state-senate map violated the state constitution.

The opinion, captioned Harkenrider v. Hochul, was written by Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, an Andrew Cuomo appointee. All seven members of the court are Democrat-appointed. The court ruled 5–2 that all three maps had been illegally drawn by the state legislature instead of by a bipartisan commission, and it further ruled 4–3 that the congressional map was an improper partisan gerrymander. Some sparks flew on the court, as Judge DiFiore accused dissenting Judge Rowan Wilson of writing “a nonsensical advisory opinion” on the proper remedy.