Kobach wants to make Kansas redistricting a federal case
Barb ShellyKansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is asking the federal courts to take over the Kansas redistricting process.
He’s right. (I know, it’s that once-in-a-blue-moon moment when I actually think that.) But the Kansas Legislature is at war over the redistricting issue, and the prospects for a truce and treaty grow slimmer by the hour.
In making his request, Kobach is actually asking the federal courts to assume a power that the Kansas Constitution has denied the state Supreme Court. Kansas Supreme Court judges can only review maps drawn by legislators, not draw them. Kobach is contending that U.S. Supreme Court decisions give federal courts the authority to draw boundaries.
Lawmakers involved in the contentious redistricting process are totally sick of it and would probably be happy to hand the mess over to the courts. But I must note the irony of both the Kansas secretary of state and the Republican-dominated Legislature seeking help from the feds, in light of all of the Washington trashing that goes on in Kansas government and politics.
Kobach has been slapped down by federal courts numerous times for his role in designing laws aimed at penalizing illegal immigrants. But apparently he has more faith in that system than the Kansas Legislature at this point.
Steve Alleman
Kansas City
1 year agoI assume Obama is at fault.