Federal Judge Keeps Redistricting Lawsuit Alive, Arguments Likely to Change
New Senate districts in Chicago and the suburbs, some of which are the point of contention in a lawsuit filed by Republicans.
A federal judge left both Republicans and Democrats disappointed Monday with two separate decisions on the lawsuit challenging the Democratic-drawn legislative maps.
The order, issued by Judge Robert Dow, chose not to go along with Republicans’ request to throw out the Democratic maps, which didn’t use census data as the basis for population figures. The judge also chose not to go along with Democrats’ hopes to dismiss the case.
The legislature is planning a return to Springfield next week to fix population deviation issues in the map which exceeded the 10% maximum generally allowed under the law. If Democrats fix the map next week, Republicans will likely change their argument in trial, which could come as early as the end of September, that Democrats are not legally allowed to make changes to the map after the June 30 constitutional deadline to enact maps.
As part of the ruling Monday, Judge Dow told Democrats to keep arguments from Republicans and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) under consideration:
“The panel also reiterates the comments made on the record urging the General Assembly to take into account the views of the Plaintiffs in crafting any amended plan with the objective of presenting for the Court's consideration a plan that satisfies all constitutional and statutory obligations, not just those raised in the existing pleadings and motions.”
Meanwhile, the House and Senate Redistricting committees have scheduled 7 public hearings between Thursday and Sunday on an amended map.
A few of the meetings will have an in-person component:
Thursday at 1pm at the Bilandic Building in Chicago
Friday at 10:00am at IBEW Local 309 in Collinsville (House only)
Friday at noon in the Will County Board Room in Joliet (Senate only)
Saturday at 10:00am the Peoria Riverfront Museum
Saturday at 3pm at the SIU Student Center in Carbondale (Senate only)
Sunday at 10am at the Phillips Park Visitors Center in Aurora (House only)
