Pennsylvania GOP leader tells state supreme court he will defy its anti-gerrymandering order
Source: Think Progress
On January 22, the state supreme court struck down the state’s gerrymandered congressional maps — maps which enabled the GOP to win 13 of the state’s 18 congressional districts even in years when Democrats won the statewide popular vote. That order explained that the state’s maps must be “composed of compact and contiguous territory” and must not “divide any county, city, incorporated town, borough, township, or ward, except where necessary to ensure equality of population.” It also gave the legislature until February 9 to draw new maps, and the governor until February 15 to approve the maps and submit them to the court for review.
[...] Four days after its initial order, on January 26, the court issued a subsequent order requiring the legislature to turn over certain data — including geolocation files “that contain the current boundaries of all Pennsylvania municipalities and precincts” and various reports analyzing how well the legislature’s proposed new maps comply with the court’s January 22 order.
In a letter from his legal counsel, Scarnati explicitly refuses to comply with the second order. Though the letter claims that “the General Assembly is currently advancing bills aimed at creating an alternative map,” the letter also states that “Senator Scarnati will not be turning over any data identified in the Court’s Orders.”
Scarnati’s stated reason for this defiance is his belief that the court’s January 22 order “violates the U.S. Constitution’s Elections Clause.” Last week, Scarnati sought a stay of the January 22 order from the Supreme Court of the United States, claiming that only the state legislature and not the state courts are constitutionally allowed to weigh in on questions of gerrymandering. The U.S. Supreme Court has not yet ruled on this stay request, which means that both the January 22 order and the January 26 order remain binding upon Scarnati.
Read more: https://thinkprogress.org/pennsylvania-gop-leader-tells-state-supreme-court-he-will-defy-its-anti-gerrymandering-order-afc0b3cd8eb0/
They just can't win unless they cheat -- and they know it.
= new reply since forum marked as read
successful coup d'état by following silly laws! The GOP was once viewed as the party of "the rule of law". Now they're completely lawless, and a good percentage of Americans are OK with that. Think about that for a little while, and just try to have it not mess up your day! 
It's up to the PA Supreme Court or the DA's office to issue a warrant for this guy.
I wanted to chuckle but I won't when I read they are "claiming that only the state legislature and not the state courts are constitutionally allowed to weigh in on questions of gerrymandering".
Isn't that a bit like letting the fox watch the henhouse? Apparently, These GOP critters don't accept the principles of balance of power in government systems.
And, welcome to DU!
It would seem that the data would be public property and hence should be available to the public.
Have any idea of who assembled the data and who paid for it?
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