Your weekly source for analysis and insight from experts at the Brennan Center for Justice
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The Briefing
August 16 is a big day for democracy. But it might not be a good day for democracy. That’s when the Census Bureau releases the data that states will use in the redistricting process. The maps they draw will be used for the next 10 years. And in many states, what that means is the gerrymandering barbecue is about to begin. The unchecked partisan and racial gerrymandering that we expect to see won't just tilt for one party — it will also serve to squelch the voices of people of color.
As my colleague Michael Li explains in the Washington Post
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, federal legislation is urgently needed to stop the map grab and protect the integrity of the redistricting process. Based on current requirements and past practices, 32 states are likely to have new maps in place by early next year, more than half of them by this fall.
Gerrymandering has been around since the founding, when Patrick Henry tried to draw Virginia’s very first congressional map to prevent James Madison from winning a seat. Both parties do it when they can. And in the 21st century, with the help of computer algorithms combined with commercially available consumer data, it operates on a far vaster scale.
For example, Pennsylvania’s 2010 redistricting ensured a Republican grip on 13 of the state’s 18 congressional districts, despite elections where Democrats got more votes for Congress statewide. A Brennan Center analysis estimated that the last round of gerrymandering landed the GOP an additional 15 to 17 House seats in all. And partisan gerrymandering disproportionately affects communities of color, especially in the South. Because of residential segregation, it’s easy to either combine or split apart those communities for political effect.
We have also seen disturbing redistricting proposals in states, where some conservative extremists want to end the long-standing practice of counting every person when creating state and local legislative districts. Instead, they would exclude children and noncitizens. Our new report
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projects the consequences of counting only adult citizens for state-level political districts in Georgia, Missouri, and Texas, three demographically different states where this apportionment method could take hold.
The results: Latino, Asian, and Black communities would bear the brunt of representational losses, as urban and suburban areas that tend to be younger and more diverse are deprived of their fair share of political power and public resources.
On the federal level, the Supreme Court abdicated the judiciary’s responsibility for ensuring fair maps in a wrongheaded 2019 decision. But Chief Justice John Roberts practically sent Congress an engraved invitation to address the problem, writing, “The Framers gave Congress the power to do something about partisan gerrymandering.” He even cited the For the People Act as an example.
Members must now heed that (perhaps unintentional) call and pass legislation to ban this antidemocratic practice. They should also make it easier to challenge discriminatory maps in court and require meaningful transparency.
And it has to happen immediately. The longer it takes to pass federal legislation, the harder it will be to fully implement, since once maps are drawn they are difficult to change. The clock is ticking.
Democracy
Protecting Elections by Protecting Election Officials
The men and women who run elections around the country are facing unprecedented threats to both their independence and personal safety. When the Brennan Center commissioned a national survey of election officials, we found that roughly one in three feel unsafe because of their job. Testifying before the House Administration Committee, Gowri Ramachandran detailed several steps Congress can take, from funding safety training to legislation that safeguards election officials from unwarranted partisan removals. // Read More
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Constitution
Replacing DHS with Something Better
The Department of Homeland Security, founded in the post-9/11 panic, has been a mess from its first day. A mishmash of agencies with different types of mandates, DHS has always been a jack-of-all-trades and master of none. In the latest essay from the Brennan Center’s series
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marking 20 years since 9/11, former U.S. national security official Richard Clarke proposes a way to recast DHS in a more sensible fashion: by breaking it up. One new entity would focus only on domestic security. The other would relate to borders and transportation. “Giving these agencies a new start in manageably sized bureaucracies with focused missions, unburdened from past errors and reputation-damaging missteps, would create a more rational organizational structure with better chances of succeeding at their important tasks,” he writes. // Read More
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Justice
Sending People Back to Prison
Thousands of people who were released from federal prison to home confinement because of the coronavirus risk might have to go back behind bars. The Biden administration appears to be considering taking such action after the official state of emergency for the pandemic ends. “We know that these are people who are not a threat to public safety,” said Lauren-Brooke Eisen. “There is absolutely no public interest being served in having this group of individuals reincarcerated.” // Politico
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News
Larry Norden on the DOJ task force investigating threats to election workers // The Hill
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Faiza Patel on counterterrorism strategy // Politico
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Eliza Sweren-Becker on new state voter suppression laws // The Hill
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Dan Weiner on campaign finance law in Alaska // Anchorage Daily News
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Have an issue you'd like us to cover? Feedback on this newsletter? Email us at
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The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that works to reform, revitalize – and when necessary defend – our country’s systems of democracy and justice.
Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law
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