[LWVNM Action] State Supreme Court delays ruling on NM congressional map

[Richard Mason]

State Supreme Court delays ruling on NM congressional map
Republicans have challenged redistricting done in 2021
Copyright © 2023 Albuquerque Journal
BY DAN BOYD
JOURNAL CAPITOL BUREAU
SANTA FE — New Mexico Supreme Court justices grappled Monday with questions
about their authority to intervene — and the criteria that might be used if
they decide to do so — in a case that hinges on the political fairness of
the state’s redrawn congressional map.
For now, the state’s highest court plans to take its time in coming up with
answers.
After more than an hour of oral arguments, the Supreme Court did not issue
an immediate ruling on the Republicanbacked lawsuit that argues the
Democratic- approved congressional map — approved during a 2021 special
session — represents a political gerrymander.
“This is an issue of significant importance and we want to be
deliberative,” Supreme Court Chief Justice Shannon Bacon said in announcing
the court’s decision to not issue a same-day ruling.
It’s unclear when a decision might be issued, as the Supreme Court has in
the past deliberated for months on some high-profile cases before releasing
a decision.
The Monday court hearing came just two months after Democrats swept all
three state congressional seats for just the third time since 1982,
including a narrow victory by Democrat Gabe Vasquez over incumbent
Republican Yvette Herrell in the southern New Mexico-based 2nd
Congressional District.
Attorneys for the state GOP and other plaintiffs who filed the court
challenge argued Monday the election results offered evidence of
top-ranking Democrats’ intent to redraw the state’s congressional district
boundary lines in their party’s favor.
However, lawyers representing the Democrats named in the case responded by
saying the redrawn congressional map does not violate the federal Voting
Rights Act or other established redistricting guidelines, such as the
one-person, one-vote principle.
By wading into the case, Supreme Court justices would be intruding into
legislative territory without a ready rule book, said Sara Sanchez, an
Albuquerque attorney who is representing the lawmakers on contract.
“This court should not agree to enter that political thicket,” Sanchez said.
The lawsuit was initially filed in January 2022 by the state Republican
Party and seven other plaintiffs, who argued the congressional map approved
by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham a month
earlier intentionally chopped up Republican voting strongholds in southeast
New Mexico in order to obtain a partisan advantage.
A state District Court judge in Clovis was initially assigned the case, but
it was taken over by the Supreme Court last summer after the Governor’s
Office — along with top-ranking Democratic lawmakers — asked the state’s
highest court to intervene in order to resolve underlying legal questions.
During Monday’s court hearing, judges voiced concern over the possible
precedent of their ruling in the case and what criteria might be used to
determine when political gerrymandering goes overboard.
Specifically, Justice David Thomson expressed misgivings about the request
from Daniel Gallegos, the attorney representing the state GOP, that
justices consider partisan factors in the case, while Justice Briana Zamora
questioned whether a ruling to dismiss the lawsuit could bar the Supreme
Court from hearing future similar cases.
For her part, Bacon said it’s likely the arguments would be reversed if
Republicans held a majority over Democrats in the Legislature.
“I’ve been around the block a few times — you all would be making exactly
the opposite arguments,” she said.
In court filings in the run-up to Monday’s hearing, attorneys representing
the top Democratic lawmakers and the governor claimed the new map succeeded
in creating more competitive districts, as Vasquez defeated Herrell by just
1,350 votes.
In addition, the state’s two other Democratic U.S. House members — Melanie
Stansbury and Teresa Leger Fernández — both won election by smaller margins
than Democrats had won their respective seats in 2020.
But top GOP officials accused Democrats of engineering Herrell’s ouster by
moving parts of Albuquerque’s South Valley and West Side into her
congressional district, while shifting Roswell and parts of Hobbs into
other districts.
In their court challenge, the Republican Party and other plaintiffs also
claimed the new congressional map violates the equal protection clause of
the state Constitution.
They asked the Supreme Court to strike down the newly-drawn map and direct
the District Court judge to oversee the drawing of fairer boundary lines.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.swcp.com/pipermail/action/attachments/20230110/37dfb428/attachment.htm>