WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court has refuted a call from Pennsylvania Republicans to involve itself in the contested political battle surrounding the state’s newly selected congressional map.
On Monday, justices from the nation’s high court issued an unsigned order which referred Toth v. Chapman to a federal district court comprised of three judges, and that the parties would be permitted to appeal when that court granted or denied a request for interlocutory injunctive relief.
In Pennsylvania, those challenging the “Carter Plan” map chosen by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania last month argued that under the U.S. Constitution’s Elections Clause, any state supreme court does not have the power to select a congressional map.
On Feb. 23, a 4-3 decision from the state Supreme Court confirmed the selection of a congressional map proposed by Democratic Party-aligned voters which features 17 congressional districts – meaning Pennsylvania will lose one congressional seat from its current total of 18, as a result of sluggish population growth detailed in federal census results.
According to the map, known as the “Carter Plan”, Pennsylvania will be separated into eight districts which lean toward Republican voters, six districts which lean toward Democrat voters and three highly-divided districts.
Currently, Pennsylvania has nine Republican congressional representatives and nine Democrat congressional representatives, but the new “Carter Plan” map will combine an area represented by incumbent Reps. Glenn Thompson and Fred Keller, and creates two districts in Metro Pittsburgh where no incumbents will be running for re-election.
Though the state Supreme Court modified the schedule pertaining to nomination petitions, it retained May 17 as the date of the primary election in Pennsylvania.
The Court’s 4-3 decision largely fell along political lines, with Democrat Justices Max Baer, Christine Donohue, David N. Wecht and Kevin M. Dougherty in favor of the “Carter Map” selection, with Democrat Justice Debra Todd and Republican Justices Sallie Updyke Mundy and P. Kevin Brobson dissenting from the choice.
Earlier proceedings in the matter had been pending before the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, a Republican-majority body, where Judge Patricia McCullough indicated a ruling was imminent in early February.
But the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s action took the matter out of the lower court’s hands via its King’s Bench provision, and the high court held arguments on Feb. 18. McCullough served as special master for those proceedings.
Challengers to the “Carter Plan” map also lost an attempt for the issuance of a temporary restraining order on Feb. 25.
Dougherty previously said the state Supreme Court needed to act fast in this matter, due to the executive and legislative branches of Pennsylvania government failing to agree on selecting a new map.
This is not the first the state Supreme Court has addressed the controversial matter of constitutional redistricting. In 2018, it selected a new congressional map for Pennsylvania, after it decided that the former one was gerrymandered and therefore, unconstitutional.
U.S. Supreme Court case 21-A-457
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com