Supreme Court Declines To Review Racial Gerrymandering Accusations In Kansas

Kansas voters petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision that allowed racial gerrymandering, in which voters believe a voting district favors one group of voters over another.

According to CNN, the Supreme Court decided not to review a court case that allegedly upheld racial gerrymandering.

As CNN’s Davan Cole wrote: “In a controversial decision last year, the Kansas Supreme Court upheld a Republican-drawn map that had been blocked by a lower court over partisan gerrymandering and the dilution of minority voting strength. The new congressional map split Wyandotte County–home to Kansas City–into two congressional districts for the first time in several decades.”

Votes represented by the ACLU of Kansas and the Campaign Legal Center were dissatisfied with the ruling. CNN reported that voters represented by the ACLU “held that intentional racial discrimination in redistricting is unconstitutional only if it prevents the formation of a majority-minority district.”

The group of voters, represented by the ACLU, the ACLU of Kansas, and the Campaign Legal Center, said in court papers that the Kansas Supreme Court “held that intentional racial discrimination in redistricting is unconstitutional only if it prevents the formation of a majority-minority district.”

“Under this conception of the Fourteenth Amendment, where minority voters are fewer in number or more dispersed, states have carte blanche to intentionally discriminate against them in drawing districts–even if the legislature announced that it acted specifically to disadvantage minority voters,” ACLU wrote.

Sharon Brett, ACLU legal director, spoke with TheGrio about the Supreme Court’s decision.

“I think the impact of the Kansas Supreme Court’s decision is pretty significant and serious, and we’re disappointed that the U.S. Supreme Court wasn’t willing to step in and correct that misinterpretation of federal law,” Brett said.

She added that the ACLU “appealed one very discrete issue, and that was that the Kansas Supreme Court misinterpreted the federal equal protection clause law.”

“The ACLU of Kansas is here to help them organize their political power and work with the other communities in the second congressional district to push back against the map that was enacted by the Kansas legislature and make sure their political voices are heard,” Brett told TheGrio.