Michigan redistricting panel asks court for permission to use unconstitutional maps

A redistricting panel in Michigan led by citizens asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to let it use 13 state legislative district maps that a federal court said violated the U.S. Constitution.

The panel asked Justice Brett Kavanaugh to pause an order, issued by federal judges, that declared the districts unconstitutional because the maps were drawn “predominantly on the basis of race.” The federal judges ordered for them to be redrawn for future Michigan state House and Senate elections, including races for later this year.

The panel said when it configured the Detroit-area districts, it did “everything this Court’s Voting Rights Act (VRA) and racial-gerrymandering precedents signals is necessary for voluntary VRA compliance.” It was not possible for them to have done more, the panel said, according to its request.

Supreme Court intervention is necessary to “remedy this untenable state of affairs,” the panel said. It asked Kavanaugh to grant the application and issue a stay of the district court’s injunction.

The maps have been challenged by a group of 19 Black Detroit voters from each of the state’s 13 districts, who argued the commission engaged in racial gerrymandering when it drew the maps in 2021.

In December, the panel found that the maps violated the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause because it “overwhelmingly — indeed, inescapably” drew the boundaries based on race.

Kavanaugh, who has jurisdiction over 6th Circuit cases, requested a response from the group challenging the maps by Wednesday.

Federal judges ordered the appointment of two special masters to assist in the redrawing process. One, from Brigham Young University, will work on alternative maps to be used in the case that the panel won’t produce new maps compliant with court orders in time, while the other, from University of California, Irvine, will review the panel’s maps and make recommendations to the court, The Detroit News reported.