Unanimous U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Redistricting Maps of Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission

Today the United States Supreme Court issued its unanimous opinion affirming that voting-district maps created by the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission are lawful. Osborn Maledon is pleased to have represented the Commission in this successful litigation in both the trial court and the United States Supreme Court.

The case, Harris v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, involved a challenge that Arizona’s state legislative voting districts did not comply with the “one-person, one-vote” standard because of small deviations in population between districts that the plaintiffs claimed were put in the map for partisan reasons. 

In an 8-0 decision, the Court held that the Commission’s map was constitutional, affirming the decision of a panel of federal judges who decided the case after a 5-day trial. The Court found that “the deviations predominantly reflected Commission efforts to achieve compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act, not to secure political advantage for one party,” and the plaintiffs “failed to show to the contrary.” The 30 legislative districts established by the Commission will continue to be used in elections for the Arizona Legislature through the 2020 election.

Additional coverage of the case can be found here, here, and here.

Several Osborn Maledon attorneys represented the Commission at trial in the Arizona federal district court, including Mary O’Grady, Colin Campbell, Jeff Molinar, and Joe Roth. Mary O’Grady and Joe Roth represented the Commission on appeal, along with co-counsel at Jenner & Block and Ballard Spahr.