Gerrymandering Lawsuit Fast Tracked In PA Supreme Court
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- This week, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that a class action that could affect the voting districts for the 2018 election will now be fast tracked.
Pennsylvania's high court ruled that the Commonwealth Court must decide whether lawmakers should re-draw the congressional districts by the end of this year.
"People know that Pennsylvania is a very divided state, a swing state," said Ben Geffen, staff attorney at the Public Interest Law Center.
The Public Interest Law Center represents the plaintiffs, the Pennsylvania League of Women Voters, in the lawsuit. They argue the map is unconstitutional because Republicans gerrymandered the map by lumping democrats into a handful of districts and spreading Republicans out into districts with a slight, but comfortable, majority that entrenched GOP power.
"The map was drawn in a way to penalize democrats for their political expression and their political association," Geffen said.
Hear more about the case, from advocates calling for redistricting reforms, and from the Philly GOP leadership on why the courts should stay out of the process; all this and more Saturday night at 9:30 and Sunday morning at 8:30 only on Flashpoint.
