Law Commons^™

Partisan Gerrymandering And The Illusion Of Unfairness, Jacob Eisler

Catholic University Law Review

Contemporary political discussions have given increasing attention on gerrymandering. Most discussions of gerrymandering focus on the practice’s illegitimate use as a weapon to distort popular democracy. This has been the Supreme Court’s focus as well, but all to no avail. The Supreme Court’s gerrymandering jurisprudence illustrates the difficulty in policing the practice, with the Court struggling to formulate a coherent test to determine when gerrymandering is permissible and when it runs afoul.

The increase focus on gerrymandering as a weapon invites a discussion whether the practice may is inherently illegitimate. This Article suggests two conditions, described as “partisan loyalty” and …