A conservative majority of the U.S. Supreme Court ruledthat federal courts have no role to play in deciding partisan gerrymandering cases.
The justices were considering two cases: a Republican partisan gerrymandering case in North Carolina and a Democratic partisan gerrymandering case in Maryland. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion and said the U.S. Constitution does not bar partisan gerrymandering. Justice Elena Kagan wrote the minority opinion and was joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Stephen Breyer in dissent.
The Supreme Court also blocked a citizenship question from being added to the U.S. Census — for now. The majority opinion sent the case back to the U.S. Commerce Department to add an explanation for why they want to add the question. Host Frank Stasio gets analysis from WUNC Capitol Bureau Chief Jeff Tiberii.