Reflective Democracy

Culture often leads politics and the theatre once again reflects uncomfortable truths with Harper Lee's classic, To Kill A Mockingbird starring Jeff Daniels. If you cannot watch the full nine-minute interview then skip to 6:38 and watch the final portion.

Over 38 percent of state and congressional district maps drawn by politicians in the 2010-cycle were struck down by courts, compared to just 11 percent of those drawn by independent citizen commissions with partisan balance. This includes two maps struck down today by a federal Michigan court.

The End Gerrymandering Pledge aims to spur prominent national leaders to advance fair redistricting reform that is transparent, nondiscriminatory and politically impartial across the United States in advance of the 2020 Census. Eric H. Holder, Jr., the 82nd Attorney General of the United States, and Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger are among the more than 6,000 Americans who have signed the online pledge. 

Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch suggested recently that the Supreme Court did not need to wade into the issue of partisan gerrymandering because so many states have passed reforms through the citizen initiative process that puts issues directly to voters. What Gorsuch left out is that only 24 states have a such a process. And in many of those states, legislatures are not only trying to make it harder to get issues on the ballot, they’re taking it upon themselves to reject what voters have approved — often by overwhelming majorities.

Eric H. Holder, Jr, the 82nd Attorney General of the United States, and Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today signed the End Gerrymandering Pledge, a new initiative of Common Cause to advance fair redistricting reform that is transparent, nondiscriminatory and politically impartial in advance of the 2020 Census.