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82 Md. L. Rev. Online 1 (2022-2023)

handle is hein.journals/endnot82 and id is 1 raw text is: SCORPIONS IN A CORKED BOTTLE: THE DUBIOUS REDISTRICTING JURISPRUDENCE OF THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT STEVEN B. LICHTMAN* As the state of Maryland embarks on a politically contentious process of drawing the boundaries of its legislative districts, it will be doing so against the backdrop of the Supreme Court's meandering history on gerrymandering. Perhaps more than the caselaw on any other subject, the Court's caselaw on redistricting is affected by political considerations race and party politics as the two most prominent variables which demonstrate how constitutional jurisprudence is shaped by institutional concerns. This Article will track the development and evolution of the Supreme Court's work on redistricting, with special attention being paid to these political dynamics. INTRODUCTION If nothing else, David Lewis was at least candid. I propose that we draw the maps to give a partisan advantage to 10 Republicans and three Democrats . .. because I do not believe it's possible to draw a map with 11 Republicans and two Democrats.' Lewis, representing the 53rd District in the North Carolina House of Representatives, served as the co-chair of the Redistricting Committee from 2011 to 2018, and was one of the people in charge of the state's 2020 redistricting process. Nobody expected North Carolina Republicans to draw a balanced bipartisan map, and nobody could have been surprised that they turned the task into a closely held and impenetrable process. Lewis and State Senator Robert Rucho retained the services of Thomas Hofeller, the former redistricting coordinator of the Republican National Committee, and assigned him the job of drawing up several possible maps. Lewis and Rucho instructed Hofeller that all of his map options should minimize the number © 2022 Steven B. Lichtman. * Steven Lichtman is Associate Professor of Political Science and Pre-Law Advisor at Shippensburg University and is also the Executive Director of the New England Political Science Association. He received his Ph.D. from Brandeis University, and prior to that he received his J.D. from New York University School of Law. He would like to thank Professor Mark Graber of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law for over twenty years of mentorship and friendship. 1. Adam Liptak, Partisan Gerrymandering Returns to a Transformed Supreme Court, N.Y. TIMES (Mar. 18, 2019), https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/18/us/politics/gerrymandering- supreme-court.html. 1

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