ALBANY, N.Y. — New York’s highest court is set to decide whether the Democrat-led Legislature engaged in gerrymandering when drawing up new congressional districts.
The nine-member Court of Appeals heard arguments Tuesday in a case that could disrupt the state’s June primary should the panel choose to toss out new district maps Republicans charge are unconstitutional.
Several judges seemed wary of wading into the controversy or overstepping the court’s authority as they questioned attorneys representing the state’s legislative leaders and Republican litigants.
“I’m again having difficulty with your argument that you’re driving the substantive work of drawing district lines into a judicial forum,” Judge Jenny Rivera said.
A lower appeals court determined last week that the Dem-drawn maps violated the state’s ban on partisan gerrymandering and partially upheld an earlier ruling that would block the state from using the lines in this year’s midterm elections while greenlighting redrawn state Senate and Assembly districts.
Republicans want to see the Legislature redraw more balanced maps or would support a court-appointed master taking over the process.
“The Legislature had no authority to adopt any maps,” argued attorney Misha Tseytlin, representing Republicans.
The Republican-backed lawsuit that has since climbed through the courts initially argued that Democrats illegally gerrymandered the maps to favor themselves, violating a 2014 constitutional provision creating an independent commission meant to take politics out of the process.
The 10-member bipartisan panel wound up deadlocked earlier this year and voted to send a pair of competing maps, one drawn up by Republicans and one by Democrats, to lawmakers.
That allowed the Legislature, in which Democrats have a supermajority, to draw their own maps.
Gov. Hochul, also a Democrat, signed off on the final product in February, all but guaranteeing that Albany and New York’s congressional delegation would remain blue for the next decade.
The state lost one congressional seat following the 2020 Census and will have 26 representatives in the House starting next year. How the state’s top court rules could have national implications as both Republicans and Democrats seek control of Congress in this year’s midterm elections.
A decision could come as early as this week.
“Obviously we’re hoping we succeed in court,” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) told reporters Tuesday. “Whatever the outcome is, hopefully, it will be favorable for us.”
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