That obviously dictates fairness, because you've got to have fairness to make it work. But that doesn't mean that redistricting, the most political of all political acts, will end up being a source of unity and consensus anywhere. In this decade, at least, the process is going to have something to displease almost everyone. Democrats who once were in control and Republicans who wish they were in firmer control are going to make for quarrelsome co-pilots. Minority legislators, whose numbers nearly doubled during the 1990s, are going to have to concentrate reluctantly on keeping up their current presence, rather than seeking to expand their ranks very much.
Courts are likely to look upon whatever results with scolding disapproval.
In short, the mapmaking process of 2001 is likely to serve as an opening bell in a fresh decade of continuing party warfare. You use whatever leverage you can. Inc. Reproduction in any form without the written permission of the publisher is prohibited.