This afternoon, state Supreme Court Judge Eugene Devine tossed out a suit filed by state Senator Betty Little — and other GOP leaders — that aimed to overturn a Democratic law that changed the way prison inmates are counted in political redistricting.<\/p>\n
The change, approved during a brief period when Democrats controlled the state legislature, will strip thousands of people from Republican districts, shifting those populations in most cases to Democratic-leaning areas downstate.<\/p>\n
That will force Republican districts to expand geographically.<\/p>\n
Republicans claimed that the change was an attempt to help gerrymander political districts to disadvantage GOP politicians, including Little.<\/p>\n
The judge rejected that argument, finding that even if the change was politically motivated it was still legally valid.<\/p>\n
Republicans issued a statement saying that they would review the decision, “but regardless of the final outcome of this lawsuit Republicans will expand our majority in the Senate next year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a Democrat who was in the state Senate when the controversial measure passed, praised the decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday\u2019s decision by Judge Devine is a victory for fundamental fairness and equal representation. The court affirmed the legality of counting incarcerated individuals in their home communities for the purposes of redrawing district lines, rather than the districts where they are in prison. As a lawmaker, I fought to end the practice of prison-based gerrymandering that distorted the democratic process and undermined the principle of \u2018one person, one vote.\u2019 This decision affirms and applies a fair standard to the drawing of state legislative districts and makes it easier for counties to do the same by providing them with an accurate data set.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It remains unclear how this change will affect the district boundaries here in the North Country.\u00a0 They could shift Little’s district, but also Assembly and state Senate districts in the St. Lawrence Valley with large inmate populations.<\/p>\n
NCPR will have more on this story Monday morning during the 8 O’clock Hour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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