Republicans ask Supreme Court to stop demand for new Michigan districts
WASHINGTON _ Michigan Republicans on Friday asked U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to stop, at least temporarily, a court demand that dozens of congressional and state legislative districts be redrawn by Aug. 1.
State House Speaker Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, and several Republican members of Michigan's congressional delegation filed the request, saying a three-judge panel's order of April 25 "forgoes any semblance of respect for state sovereignty."
Under court rules, Sotomayor, who handles applications from the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals covering Michigan, could grant the emergency stay herself or refer it to the full court. If she grants the request it can be appealed to the whole court.
The decision by the three-judge panel determined that Michigan's current boundaries for about three dozen congressional and state legislative seats were unconstitutionally gerrymandered in 2011 to favor Republicans overall and must be redrawn. It gave the legislature until Aug. 1 to do so, or said it would redraw them itself.
In the request for a stay, Republicans also noted that the Supreme Court is currently considering redistricting cases brought in other states that could have a direct bearing on the redistricting order in Michigan and that there is a reasonable expectation that any districts drawn now _ in a tight time frame _ for the 2020 election will be thrown out.
_Detroit Free Press
