The Post-2000 Round of Redistricting: An Entangled Thicket within the Federal System

A new round of revisions in the geographical districts used to elect federal, state, and local legislators in the United States has followed the 2000 census of population. While legislators themselves typically have the initial responsibility to perform this frequently contentious task, courts play an active supervisory role as well. This article reviews how United States Supreme Court decisions concerning the post-1990 round of redistricting have resulted in the rules concerning the design of districts being more ambiguous in this post-2000 round. This, it is argued, enhances the opportunity to gerrymander for partisan or other political reasons, a practice that is virtually immune to judicial invalidation. The article also notes the more active role of state courts in this process. The districting process now involves not only competing districting plans, but more often than in previous rounds, competing courts as well. Copyright 2002, Oxford University Press.