LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Amidst a controversial week for the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, a new federal judge decision declares that more than a dozen districts must be redrawn. 

What does the ruling say?

Under the ruling from federal judges Raymond Kethledge, Paul Maloney, and Janet Neff, they determined that the recently redrawn maps violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution, relying on incomplete data to set Black voting age percentages in the districts. 

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“We enjoin the Secretary of State from holding further elections in these districts as they are currently drawn,” the opinion said. “And we will direct that the parties appear before this court in early January to discuss how to proceed with redrawing them.”

The following districts must be redrawn before the November 2024 election:

  • House District 1:  Represented by Rep. Tyrone Carter of Detroit
  • House District 7: Represented by Rep. Helena Scott of Detroit
  • House District 8: Represented by Rep. Mike McFall of Hazel Park
  • House District 10: Represented by House Speaker Joe Tate of Detroit
  • House District 11: Represented by Rep. Veronica Paiz of Harper Woods
  • House District 12: Represented by Rep. Kimberly Edwards of Eastpointe
  • House District 14: Represented by Rep. Donavan McKinney of Detroit
  • Senate District 1: Represented by Sen. Erika Geiss of Taylor
  • Senate District 3: Represented by Sen. Stephanie Chang of Detroit
  • Senate District 6: Represented by Sen. Mary Cavanagh of Redford Township
  • Senate District 8: Represented by Sen. Mallory McMorrow of Royal Oak
  • Senate District 10: Represented by Sen. Paul Wojno of Warren
  • Senate District 11: Represented by Sen. Veronica Klinefelt of Eastpointe

“Sort Detroit-area voters into difference districts on the basis of race.”

The judges also found that the experts advising the citizens commission, political scientist Bruce Adelson, Dr. Lisa Handley, and general counsel Julianne Pastula, regularly told the commissioners “to sort Detroit-area voters into different districts on the basis of race.” 

The opinion states. “Yet these experts told the commissioners again and again — based on general election data alone — that black-preferred candidates would ‘perform well’ in these districts. That was a grave disservice to everyone involved with this case, above all the voters themselves.”

The opinion acknowledges that normally legislative redistricting is “performed by state legislatures, which usually do not create a contemporary record of their every move during that process.” This was not the case with the commission, as it has a body of transcripts running close to 10,000 pages, showing the commission’s reliance on expert opinion according to the judges. 

The judges continued, “And the record shows, overwhelmingly, that those experts—Adelson, especially—expressly told the commissioners, scores if not hundreds of times, to sort Detroit-area voters into different districts on the basis of race.” 

What are people saying?

After the commission redrew the maps in 2021, the number of majority Black districts diminished from 11 to seven in the House and two to none in the Senate. The new maps prompted a lawsuit from Black Detroiters, arguing that the lines diminished their voices, violated the Voting Rights Act, and the U.S. Constitution. 

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Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party Lavora Barnes made a statement concerning the redistricting decision. 

“Tonight, I want to be clear that no matter how this process proceeds, we are confident that Democrats will be able to hold the majority in the House and maintain our Democratic trifecta that has continually delivered for Michiganders on the most important issues facing our state,” Barnes said in a statement. “It is also important to note that the special elections that have already been announced for 2024 are expected to proceed as planned. We are working hard to win those elections to ensure that voters in those districts have the representation that they deserve.

Chair Barnes also expressed that the majority of Michiganders support Democratic values. 

“Let’s not forget how Democrats in Lansing delivered this year — we passed bills to lower costs for millions of Michigan families, expand and protect reproductive rights, fund public education at record levels, protect our democracy, and much more,” Barnes added. “Wherever these lines are drawn, we’re ready to make our case to voters and keep fighting for a brighter future for Michigan.” 

One commissioner who lives out of state resigned this week.

Two members of the Citizens Redistricting Commission live out of state. One of the two, Democrat Commissioner Dustin Witjes, formally resigned this week. 

Both the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission and the Black Detroit Democrats who challenged the redrawn maps received a Jan. 2 deadline to submit briefs outlining how legislative district boundaries should be redrawn. 

For the full court 116 page opinion, see here.