Opinion
R-3 September Term 2021 086587
01-04-2022
In the MATTER OF Establishment of CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS BY the NEW JERSEY REDISTRICTING COMMISSION, Douglas Steinhardt, in his official capacity as Delegation Chair and Member of the New Jersey Redistricting Commission, Michele Albano, in her official capacity as Member of the New Jersey Redistricting Commission, Jeanne Ashmore, in her official capacity as Member of the New Jersey Redistricting Commission, Mark Duffy, in his official capacity as Member of the New Jersey Redistricting Commission, Mark LoGrippo, in his official capacity as Member of the New Jersey Redistricting Commission, and Lynda Pagliughi, in her official capacity as Member of the New Jersey Redistricting Commission, Plaintiffs, v. New Jersey Redistricting Commission, John E. Wallace, Jr., in his official capacity as Chair and Member of the New Jersey Redistricting Commission, Janice Fuller, in her official capacity as Delegation Chairwoman and Member of the New Jersey Redistricting Commission, Iris Delgado, in her official capacity as Member of the New Jersey Redistricting Commission, Vin Gopal, in his official capacity as Member of the New Jersey Redistricting Commission, Stephanie Lagos, in her official capacity as Member of the New Jersey Redistricting Commission, Jeff Nash, in his official capacity as Member of the New Jersey Redistricting Commission, Dana Redd, in her official capacity as Member of the New Jersey Redistricting Commission, and Tahesha Way, in her official capacity as New Jersey Secretary of State, Defendants.
Pending before the Court is plaintiffs' complaint in lieu of prerogative writs filed on December 30, 2021, invoking the Court's original jurisdiction under Article II, Section 2, Paragraph 7 of the New Jersey Constitution. Plaintiffs, members of the Republican Party delegation of the New Jersey Redistricting Commission, challenge the map certified by the Redistricting Commission.
The Democratic Party and Republican Party delegations of the Redistricting Commission proposed competing Congressional district maps. On December 22, 2021, a majority of the Redistricting Commission voted in favor of certifying the map proposed by the Democratic Party delegation. The independent thirteenth member and Chairperson of the Commission, the Honorable John E. Wallace, Jr. (ret.), voted in favor of that map.
In an oral statement of reasons, the Chairperson explained:
The only area where one map pulled ahead of the other is in partisan fairness; that is, no district may be formed solely to be — to favor or disfavor any political party or the election of any person.
Both maps were evaluated by my team using various statewide tests for partisan fairness. Without getting into the details of the tests, I simply state that the results showed that the partisan fairness would favor the Democratic's map. However, because neither delegation used these tests, I have decided not to give any weight to them in making my decision.
In summary, both delegations aptly applied our standards to their map. In the end, I decided to vote for the Democratic map, simply because in the last redistricting map it was' drawn by the Republicans.
Thus, I conclude that fairness dictates that the Democrats have the opportunity to have their map used for this next redistricting cycle.
A more detailed statement of reasons would assist the Court. Rule 2:5-1(b) allows a trial judge or agency head to submit "an amplification of a prior [oral] statement [or] opinion" when an appeal is taken. By analogy to that rule, the Court respectfully requests that the Chairperson of the Redistricting Commission amplify the grounds for his decision and present that amplification to the parties and to the Court by January 11, 2022.