The highest court in New York, the Court of Appeals, on Tuesday morning will hear oral arguments on whether or not to strike down the obviously gerrymandered districts drawn by the Democrats in the Legislature. Two lower courts have already found they violate the state Constitution.
Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, who was elected a county court judge and then Westchester district attorney as a Republican and then switched parties to be a Democrat before being elevated to the Court of Appeals, knows politics well. But in this case, there can be no loyalty to party, for finding in favor of the Democrats would fly in the face of the very Constitution DiFiore and her six colleagues are sworn to uphold and protect.
It would be easy enough for the chief judge to round up three more votes to either overturn the decisions of the lower courts — that the grossly partisan lines drawn for congressional seats, which would halve the Republican share from the eight they’ve held for the last decade down to just four, are anti-democratic — or to say that Legislature’s work was terrible, but there’s no time to fix matters now.
But the only way that DiFiore can uphold her honor and her oath is to compare the unambiguous language of the Constitution, as ratified by millions of New Yorkers, with the dreck that the Democratic supermajority produced.
Tossing these lines and ordering new ones from a special master and pushing back the primary from June to August is the one true, fair and just outcome. And since the state Independent Redistricting Commission also failed to follow the Constitution, the maps for the state Senate and Assembly must also be redone.
Next year, the judiciary is up for a raise; DiFiore doesn’t want to fight with the Legislature, which can block that raise. That can’t factor into her decision, nor can any other consideration. This is about the Constitution and the lines, and it’s clear as day.
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