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Page Number: 71

32 

RUCHO v. COMMON CAUSE 

KAGAN, J., dissenting 

evaluated  with  immense  care  the  factual  evidence  and 
legal arguments the parties presented.  They used neutral 
and  manageable  and  strict  standards.  They  had  not  a
shred  of  politics  about  them.  Contra  the  majority,  see 
ante, at 34, this was law. 

That  is  not  to  deny,  of  course,  that  these  cases  have
great political consequence.  They do.  Among the amicus 
briefs  here  is  one  from  a  bipartisan  group  of  current  and
former  Members  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  They
describe all the ways partisan gerrymandering harms our 
political  system—what  they  call  “a  cascade  of  negative 
results.”  Brief  as  Amicus  Curiae  5.  These  artificially
drawn districts shift influence from swing voters to party-
base  voters  who  participate  in  primaries;  make  biparti-
sanship  and  pragmatic  compromise  politically  difficult  or
impossible;  and  drive  voters  away  from  an  ever  more 
dysfunctional political process.  See id., at 5–6.  Last year,
we  heard  much  the  same  from  current  and  former  state 
legislators.    In  their  view,  partisan  gerrymandering  has
“sounded  the  death-knell  of  bipartisanship,”  creating  a 
legislative  environment  that  is  “toxic”  and  “tribal.”    Brief 
as Amicus Curiae in Gill v. Whitford, O. T. 2016, No. 16– 
1161,  pp. 6,  25.    Gerrymandering,  in  short,  helps  create 
the polarized political system so many Americans loathe.

And  gerrymandering  is,  as  so  many  Justices  have  em-
phasized  before,  anti-democratic  in  the  most  profound 
sense.  See supra, at 7–8.  In our government, “all political
power  flows  from  the  people.”  Arizona  State  Legislature,
576  U. S.,  at  ___  (slip  op.,  at  35).    And  that  means,  as 
Alexander  Hamilton  once  said,  “that  the  people  should 
choose  whom  they  please  to  govern  them.”  2  Debates  on 
the Constitution 257 (J. Elliot ed. 1891).  But in Maryland
and  North  Carolina  they  cannot  do  so.    In  Maryland, 
election  in  and  election  out,  there  are  7  Democrats  and  1 
Republican  in  the  congressional  delegation.    In  North 
Carolina,  however  the  political  winds  blow,  there  are  10