Michigan redistricting commission to appeal ruling against metro Detroit maps
Michigan's redistricting commission voted Thursday to appeal a federal three-judge panel's decision last month ruling more than a dozen Detroit-based state legislative maps unconstitutional because the mappers drew the districts that run through the majority-Black city based on race.
The decision to appeal comes the day before a court hearing Friday concerning how the maps struck down by the court should be redrawn, including whether the commission should receive assistance from a court-appointed special master and the tight timeline for adjusting maps before the Aug. 6 primary for state House seats.
A lawsuit from metro Detroit voters filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan ahead of the 2022 midterm elections alleged that the districts drawn by Michigan's first-ever citizen-led redistricting commission illegally disenfranchised Black voters.
Compared to the old GOP-drawn maps, the commission's maps eliminated majority-Black districts in the state Senate and reduced the number of those districts in the state House. The lawsuit against the commission received funding from a group affiliated with GOP operative Tony Daunt who sits on the state's elections panel.
The three-judge panel presiding over the case ruled that 13 state legislative maps that run through Detroit violate the Equal Protection Clause of U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment which prohibits drawing district lines on the basis of race. The panel was silent on allegations that metro Detroit districts with lower shares of Black voters compared to the old GOP-drawn maps deny Black voters an opportunity to elect their preferred candidates.
During the redistricting commission meeting Thursday, eight commissioners voted to appeal the ruling. GOP Commissioner Erin Wagner and newly sworn in Democratic Commissioner Elaine Andrade abstained. Democratic Commissioner Brittni Kellom − one of the two Detroit voters serving on the commission − opposed the motion to appeal the ruling. Two commissioners who previously voiced opposition to pursing an appeal were absent from the meeting Thursday.
In approving the motion, the commission directed its lawyers to file an appeal in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Michigan redistricting: Divided commission unable to act after three members leave early
The vote Thursday to challenge the court's order barring use of the commission's maps in the 2024 elections marked the second attempt to pursue an appeal.
During a meeting last week, the commission held a closed session discussion to decide whether to appeal the ruling. But three commissioners who expressed opposition to challenging the court's decision during the public portion of the meeting did not return following the closed session, leaving the commission without the quorum it needed to decide whether the group will appeal the court's ruling. The vote to appeal Thusday came amid commissioner infighting and a trio of resignations. Three new commissioners joined the group for their first meeting Thursday when they were sworn in and were asked to vote on whether to appeal the panel's ruling.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs have pointed to divisions plaguing the commission in arguing that the group of citizen mappers is not up to the task of adjusting the districts invalidated by the panel. In an effort to convince the three-judge panel the commission − not a special master − should have the first chance to adjust the district lines, the group voted Thursday to have its litigation counsel also serve as its voting rights counsel after the group's voting rights attorney resigned last week.
Staff writer Paul Egan contributed to this report
Contact Clara Hendrickson at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, previously called Twitter, @clarajanehen.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan redistricting commission to appeal court decision
