Ken de la Bastide: Ken de la Bastide column: Communication lacking in federal redistricting lawsuit
Oct. 5—There certainly appears to be a lack of communication when it comes to the federal redistricting lawsuit.
The Anderson City Council was named in a lawsuit filed by Common Cause, the Indiana League of Women Voters and the local branch of the NAACP for failing to redraw district maps following the 2020 census.
The district maps have changed very little since the 1980 census.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court last year. It maintains that by failing to draw up new boundaries for the six single-member districts, the council violated provisions of the U.S. Constitution.
After the lawsuit was filed, the council hired the Chicago law firm of Henderson Parks to represent them. To date, the city has spent $150,000 on legal fees.
This past week, a federal judge ruled the Anderson City Council violated the Constitution and ordered the council to comply with new maps.
The problem is that when Common Cause and the other plaintiffs in the case filed a motion for a summary judgment in April, Henderson Parks failed to respond.
In the court's order, the judge noted the failure of the council's attorneys to respond to a request for summary judgment.
Henderson Parks requested a stay on the summary judgment through July 1, 2025, a request that was denied by the court.
The council did vote to approve new maps in June for the three districts that had the highest variance in the number of voters.
For some reason, that map was never submitted to the federal court for consideration.
That map was drawn up by council members Greg Graham, Ollie H. Dixon and Joe Newman.
A goal was to protect minority representation on the council.
Henderson Parks did recommend that the council hire an outside consulting firm to consider the new maps, contending it would show the court the process in which the new districts were drawn.
The council voted not to hire a consulting firm.
The attorneys for Common Cause Indiana, the local NAACP and League of Women Voters of Indiana have requested a status conference.
That motion states the maps approved by the council have not been presented to the federal court or to the plaintiffs in the case.
Since the lawsuit was filed, the makeup of the council has changed politically from a 7-2 Democratic majority to a 5-4 Democratic majority.
The council and the public deserve to know why Henderson Parks didn't respond to the summary judgment request or submit the new maps for consideration.
