PoliticsU.S. NewsSupreme Courtsupreme court of the united states

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Says Effects Of Partisan Gerrymandering Aren't Good For Democracy

“It’s drawing a map so people think ‘Why bother voting?'"
Open Image Modal
By 

Reporter, HuffPost

|
Open Image Modal
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaks to Georgetown University law students in Washington last week.
NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP via Getty Images

A week before the U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear a landmark case on how officials can draw electoral maps, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said people felt discouraged from voting because of the way districts were redrawn, something that was bad for democracy.

On Oct. 3, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a Wisconsin case in which the plaintiffs allege that Republican lawmakers violated the U.S. Constitution with redistricting that benefited their party in 2011. The Supreme Court has never said if that process, called partisan gerrymandering, violates the Constitution, but Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike have joined in asking it to say it does. The court has treated gerrymandering based on race as a separate category and has struck down maps that have taken race into account too much when they were drawn and diminished the influence of certain groups of voters.

“It’s drawing a map so people think ‘Why bother voting? This is a secure Republican district or this is a secure Democratic district, so my vote doesn’t count.’ That’s not a good thing for democracy,” Ginsburg told CBS host Charlie Rose during an appearance at the 92nd Street Y in New York City on Tuesday.

The case, Gill v. Whitford, deals with Wisconsin Assembly districts. After imposing the new maps, Wisconsin Republicans won 60 of the state’s 99 legislative seats in 2012 but won just 48.6 percent of the statewide vote.

Ginsburg has said the case is perhaps the most important one the court faces this term.

A federal court in Wisconsin found the maps were unconstitutional, in part relying on a new method of analysis called the “efficiency gap” that attempts to quantify gerrymandering. The method has generated a considerable amount of excitement because it could offer justices a concrete standard by which they can determine if a gerrymander is unconstitutional. Justice Anthony Kennedy is expected to be the swing vote in the case and has said in the past that some standard may exist.

Our 2024 Coverage Needs You

As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.

Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.

to keep our news free for all.

Support HuffPost

Before You Go

Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Best Quotes
(01 of21)
Open Image Modal
On women serving on the Supreme Court:"People ask me sometimes... When will there be enough women on the Court? And my answer is: When there are nine." (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(02 of21)
Open Image Modal
On perceptions of gender balance:“So now the perception is, yes, women are here to stay. And when I’m sometimes asked when will there be enough [women on the Supreme Court]? And I say when there are nine, people are shocked. But there’d been nine men, and nobody’s ever raised a question about that.” (credit:Alex Wong via Getty Images)
(03 of21)
Open Image Modal
On the Notorious RBG meme, parodying the name of rapper Notorious BIG:"I think a law clerk told me about this Tumblr and also explained to me what Notorious RBG was a parody on. And now my grandchildren love it and I try to keep abreast of the latest that’s on the Tumblr. … [I]n fact I think I gave you a Notorious RBG [T-shirts]. I have quite a large supply." (credit:Pool via Getty Images)
(04 of21)
Open Image Modal
On Supreme Court dissents:"Dissents speak to a future age. It's not simply to say, 'My colleagues are wrong and I would do it this way.' But the greatest dissents do become court opinions and gradually over time their views become the dominant view. So that's the dissenter's hope: that they are writing not for today but for tomorrow." (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(05 of21)
Open Image Modal
On the gay rights movement:“In recent years, people have said, ‘This is the way I am.’ And others looked around, and we discovered it’s our next-door neighbor -- we’re very fond of them or it’s our child’s best friend, or even our child. I think that as more and more people came out [as gay] and said that ‘this is who I am,’ the rest of us recognized that they are one of us.” (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(06 of21)
Open Image Modal
On social change for women:"The women of my generation and my daughter’s generation, they were very active in moving along the social change that would result in equal citizenship stature for men and women. One thing that concerns me is that today’s young women don’t seem to care that we have a fundamental instrument of government that makes no express statement about the equal citizenship stature of men and women. They know there are no closed doors anymore, and they may take for granted the rights that they have." (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(07 of21)
Open Image Modal
On women's liberation:"It is not women's liberation, it is women's and men's liberation." (credit:MANDEL NGAN via Getty Images)
(08 of21)
Open Image Modal
On the evolution of legal opinions:"Justices continue to think and can change. They have wives. They have daughters. By the way, I think daughters can change the perception of their fathers. I am ever hopeful that if the Court has a blind spot today, its eyes will be open tomorrow." (credit:Justin Sullivan via Getty Images)
(09 of21)
Open Image Modal
Explaining why she fell asleep at the 2015 State of the Union: "I vowed this year just sparkling water -- stay away from the wine -- but the dinner was so delicious it needed wine." (credit:Kevin Wolf/Invision/AP)
(10 of21)
Open Image Modal
On major portions of the Voting Rights Act being getting overturned by the Supreme Court in 2013:"Throwing out [the Voting Rights Act] when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet." (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(11 of21)
Open Image Modal
On trying to have it all in life:"Who -- man or woman -- has it all, all at once? Over my lifespan I think I have had it all. But in different periods of time, things were rough. And if you have a caring life partner, you help the other person when that person needs it." (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(12 of21)
Open Image Modal
On women's equality:"Women will only have true equality when men share with them the responsibility of bringing up the next generation." (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(13 of21)
Open Image Modal
On having children:"The decision of whether or not to bear a child is central to a woman's life, her well-being, and her dignity." (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(14 of21)
Open Image Modal
On her dream job:"People ask me, 'If you could be whatever you wanted to be, what would you be?' My first answer is not 'a great lawyer.' It is, 'I would be a great diva.' But I totally lacked that talent, so the next best thing is the law." (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(15 of21)
Open Image Modal
On feminism:"Feminism … I think the simplest explanation, and one that captures the idea, is a song that Marlo Thomas sang, 'Free to be You and Me.' Free to be, if you were a girl -- doctor, lawyer, Indian chief. Anything you want to be. And if you’re a boy, and you like teaching, you like nursing, you would like to have a doll, that’s OK too. That notion that we should each be free to develop our own talents, whatever they may be, and not be held back by artificial barriers -- manmade barriers, certainly not heaven sent." (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(16 of21)
Open Image Modal
On marriage:"In every good marriage, it pays sometimes to be a little deaf." (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(17 of21)
Open Image Modal
On a 2014 Supreme Court decision ruling that businesses such as Hobby Lobby have the right to withhold birth control from their employees' health insurance:"I should emphasize that none of us questioned the genuineness of the Hobby Lobby owners’ belief. That was a given. But no one who is in business for profit can foist his or her beliefs on a workforce that includes many people who do not share those beliefs." (credit:Justin Sullivan via Getty Images)
(18 of21)
Open Image Modal
On Citizens United and campaign finance:"If there was one decision I would overrule, it would be Citizens United. I think the notion that we have all the democracy that money can buy strays so far from what our democracy is supposed to be. So that’s number one on my list." (credit:MANDEL NGAN via Getty Images)
(19 of21)
Open Image Modal
On same-sex marriage:"All of the incentives, all of the benefits that marriage affords would still be available. So you're not taking away anything from heterosexual couples. They would have the very same incentive to marry, all the benefits that come with marriage that they do now." (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
(20 of21)
Open Image Modal
On generational differences:“My mother told me two things constantly. One was to be a lady, and the other was to be independent. The study of law was unusual for women of my generation. For most girls growing up in the ’40s, the most important degree was not your B.A., but your M.R.S.” (credit:Kevork Djansezian via Getty Images)
(21 of21)
Open Image Modal
On her Supreme Court colleague and frequent ideological opponent Antonin Scalia:"So there we are on a very elegant elephant. My feminist friends say, ‘Why are you riding on the back of the elephant? and I said, ‘Because of the distribution of weight, we needed to have Scalia in the front.’” (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Suggest a correction
|
Submit a tip