Wednesday, February 25, 2004

Fighting Gerrymandering in the home of Gerry

Partisan Politics

A panel of Federal judges have ruled that the Massachusetts legislature must redraw the tortuous and insane boundaries of certain Boston-area voting districts.

A panel of federal judges ordered Massachusetts House leaders yesterday to redraw the Boston legislative map, determining that the plan crafted by House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran and his lieutenants was designed to protect their own political futures at the expense of black voters’ constitutional rights. . . .

During the trial last fall, Finneran, a Mattapan Democrat, insisted that the redistricting plan did not unfairly divide minority neighborhoods, but he conceded that his aides tried to ensure that sitting representatives were not harmed by shifting demographics revealed by a new census.

When the lines were redrawn, [House leader Tom] Finneran’s district shed three overwhelmingly minority neighborhoods and took on three that were at least 95 percent white, including areas of Milton. Even as Boston for the first time emerged as a “majority-minority” city in the 2000 federal census, Finneran’s district went from 74 percent minority to 61 percent minority.

“The House was comfortable with manipulating district lines,” the court ruled. “This sad fact speaks to the totality of the circumstances.”

More of this, please!


Posted by Johno on 02/25/04 at 07:04 PM
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