Abstract
Despite national attention to unfair congressional district maps, efforts to make maps more representative through litigation have felt futile. However, despite unfavorable Supreme Court rulings, organizing around redistricting has seen wins on the state level, through the creation of independent redistricting commissions and map redraws. First, this Note reviews the history of race-based and partisan gerrymandering and the volatile swings of redistricting litigation. Then, it considers the role of organizing in redistricting, focusing on case studies from Ohio and North Carolina. Finally, relying on firsthand interviews and available data, this Note argues that organizing and litigation must work together under the principles of movement lawyering to inform and guide the direction of redistricting action. Lawyers must take the lead from community organizers to determine how to fight unfair maps, be it through legislative advocacy, political advocacy, or traditional litigation.
Recommended Citation
Lavanya Prabhakar,
Applying Movement Lawyering Principles to the Redistricting Movement,
19
Nw. J. L. & Soc. Pol'y.
303
(2024).
https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/njlsp/vol19/iss2/4
