The Independent View: Brooklyn Federal Court braces for NY State redistricting

A federal court that recently redrew New York's congressional districts is now preparing for the possibility of intervening in the redistricting process for state legislative elections as well. In an order last week, the court appointed Columbia Law School professor, Nathaniel Persily, to analyze what action the court must take to ensure New York has an electoral map in time for nominations for state legislative primaries on June 26.

In a lawsuit, Favors v. Cuomo, community leaders and activists asked the Eastern District of New York to intervene in the redistricting process for the state legislature and also in a separate process for New York's districts for elections to the U.S. House of Representatives. The plaintiffs claimed the legislature's inability to reach an agreement on House of Representatives districts and the possibility of legal impasse over the state legislative districts could disenfranchise voters. The federal case is Favors et al. v. Cuomo, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, No. 11-5632.

Whether the court takes over redistricting for the state legislature depends on the outcome of several pending legal proceedings:

1 - The legislature's plan must be approved, or "precleared," by the U.S. Department of Justice, in accordance with the Voting Rights Act. This is because several districts in New York City, Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, have a history of discriminatory voting practices. The preclearance process, which began on March 16, can take anywhere from a week to 60 days.

2 - To speed that up, state lawmakers have filed a parallel preclearance proceeding in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. which also has the authority to vet Voting Rights Act compliance. If the redistricting map fails to win preclearance, it would go back to the state legislature for changes, a delay that could cause the Eastern District court to intervene.

3 - Even if the state legislative map is precleared, it could still be derailed by a challenge in State Supreme Court in Manhattan. New York Senate Democrats have filed a lawsuit, Cohen v. Cuomo, that seeks to declare the state's addition of a 63rd Senate seat unconstitutional. Oral arguments in the state case have been scheduled for April 6. Depending on when and how the judge rules, the result could send lawmakers scrambling to redraw their maps with weeks or less to go before state election primaries can begin.

In its order March 21, the Eastern District panel did not define the scope of Persily's analysis, which he is set to begin April 9. But one of the judges, U.S. Circuit Judge Reena Raggi, indicated the work may entail analyzing what steps, if any, the court must take to redistrict the state's legislative lines, including what information it must have and which areas of the maps it is legally obliged to address. This panel, is made up of Raggi, U.S. Circuit Judge Gerard Lynch and U.S. District Judge Dora Irizarry.

Update
One set of complainants comes from the town of Ramapo, and says the new Assembly lines unfairly split the Orthodox Jewish community into three assembly districts.

“Based upon the proposed districts and the 2010 election results, there is no question that the Proposed Assembly districts were drawn specifically to separate the Villages of New Square and Kaser,” the plaintiffs write, alleging the new maps violate the state constitution and the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Another plaintiff’s amended complaint finds fault with both the Senate and Assembly’s lines in Nassau County, which the complainants argue crack districts that should be minority majority districts, disenfranchising black and Hispanic voters.

Still another complaint says the Assembly has not yet submitted its plans for redistricting to the Department of Justice for pre-clearance, and that the lack of an approved plan constitutes a violation of New Yorkers’ rights. The Senate submitted on 3/16/2012 and on 3/20/2012 with more information, under submission number 2012-1445.