(USAToday)
A deeply divided Supreme Court ruled Thursday that federal courts may not intervene to block even the most partisan election maps drawn by state lawmakers, a decision that allows such gerrymandering to continue unabated.
The 5-4 opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts, who was joined by the court's other conservatives, said partisan election maps drawn by North Carolina Republicans and Maryland Democrats are constitutional despite their one-sided nature.
It was a dramatic withdrawal by the nation's highest court from the political battles that have consumed states for decades, and it was loudly denounced by the court's liberal justices.
“How do you decide where the line is between acceptable partisanship and too much partisanship?” Roberts said from the bench in announcing his ruling on the last day of the term. “At some point, it should occur to you that what you’ve been asked to do is not judging at all." Read more
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