Common Cause, GWU Law School To Host Redistricting Symposium

October 7 Session Will Examine Independent Redistricting Initiatives and Issues in Major SCOTUS Cases

We’re writing to alert you to “Redistricting Reform, Mapping Our Future,”  a special event hosted by Common Cause and the George Washington University Law School next Wednesday, October 7 at the law school.

This day-long symposium will include sessions on the legal limits of partisan gerrymandering and Supreme Court decisions that are rapidly re-shaping voting rights and redistricting jurisprudence. Legal experts will discuss recent and upcoming redistricting cases, including Alabama Legislative Black Caucus v. Alabama, Shapiro v. McManus, Evenwel v. Abbott, and Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. The luncheon and a panel to follow it at 1 p.m. will be invaluable to anyone preparing to write on Evenwel or Shapiro.

The symposium is open to credentialed reporters; a complete program is available here. 

Seating is limited, so please RSVP to Scott at (sswenson@commoncause.org, 202 736-5713) or Dale (deisman@commoncause.org, 202 736-5788) to secure your seat for any of the day’s sessions.

Common Cause is a leader in the national battle for redistricting reform. We bucked the establishment in both major parties – while still rounding up bipartisan support – to spearhead the successful campaign creating California’s independent redistricting commission. Last week, we filed an amicus curiae brief with the Supreme Court in the Evenwel case and assembled a coalition of cities including Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Trenton (home to Justices Alito and Scalia)  that filed a second brief.

With money in politics a major issue in the 2016 election, Americans are increasingly thinking about how we might repair our democracy and focusing on how impartial, non-partisan redistricting commissions can address the damage done by partisan and racial gerrymandering.