A redraw of over a dozen Michigan state House and Senate districts will continue as planned.
A three-judge panel for the federal court for the Western District of Michigan struck down the districts last month, reasoning that they were unconstitutionally drawn with race as a predominant consideration. The state's redistricting commission voted to appeal earlier this week and asked for a stay to prevent the court from enforcing its order.
Friday afternoon, the three judges announced plans to deny the stay.
The Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission will now have to take the issue up with the U.S. Supreme Court.
Friday’s court hearing was mainly to determine the best way of moving forward with remaking the metro-Detroit district maps.
Plaintiffs in the case wanted the court to appoint an expert, known as a special master, to draw new maps for the commission.
Speaking after the hearing, plaintiff's attorney Jennifer Green said she didn’t have faith in the commission’s ability to draw its own maps under a tight timeline.
“The confidence level that we have with this commission is very low and, especially given what’s happened the last several weeks and the turnover and the lack of what we call proper (Voting Rights Act) counsel, we have a lot of concerns with the commission and its ability to function,” Green told reporters.
The MICRC has recently seen infighting, resignations, and new members appointed.
Despite the turbulence, Commission Executive Director Edward Woods III said the commission is up to the task.
“The commission has its challenges but there’s no question with our new members and the directive of the court, and more importantly the responsibility that Michiganders have put on the commission, this is what we do. We need to buckle up, get along, and get it done,” Woods III said.
Ahead of the hearing, the court had asked both parties to jointly come up with a list of five candidates to serve as special master. But lawyers on both sides said they struggled to understand the court’s order and created separate lists.
During the hearing, judges asked the parties to work together to come up with three names together by Monday.
The court didn’t issue any rulings Friday on how the special master would factor into the redrawing process.
Judge Raymond Kethledge, however, toyed with the idea of having the special master and the commission both work on their own to come up with new maps. That way, if the commission’s maps don’t pass muster, the court would already have a backup ready.
The lawyer for the commission opposed that plan, worrying it would take away from the commission's state constitutional duty to draw maps.
But Kethledge said it was an unusual circumstance worth having the special master start as soon as possible.
“We don’t have time to see if it goes wrong,” Kethledge said.
Outside of hiring a special master, the court also discussed a motion on behalf of the plaintiffs to hold special elections in the state’s affected Senate districts later this year.
Legal counsel for the Michigan Secretary of State’s office pushed back against that idea, saying it wouldn’t be feasible given time constraints.
As far as timelines, the court didn’t decide on anything concrete Friday afternoon.
The commission had suggested a February 2 timetable to have new maps ready for a 45-day public comment period. That would place a final decision on maps back before the court in April.
The court seemed receptive; however, the Secretary of State’s office said a mid-March timeline would be much more feasible to get everything on their end squared away in time for candidate filing deadlines and other housekeeping work. An early April date was floated as a compromise.
Another issue that arose came down to the commission’s recently hired counsel to advise it on the federal Voting Rights Act. Thursday, the commission hired its litigation counsel law firm, BakerHostetler, after receiving a strong recommendation to do so.
The plaintiff’s counsel said that could lead to problems down the line when members of the law firm representing the commission at trial could also be called as witnesses.
