Opinion ID: 1435299
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Maryland Constitutional Requirements

Text: Although the Maryland Constitution grants this Court the power to review and grant appropriate relief to petitioners, it may do so only if it first finds that the districting of the State is not consistent with requirements of either the Constitution of the United States of America, or the Constitution of Maryland. MD. CONST. art III, § 5. The majority, however, seems to have put the cart before the horse in its review of the State's 2002 Plan, by jumping straight to the imposition of its remedy without first engaging in a serious analysis of whether, how, or why the State's plan violates State or federal law. The Special Master found, subject to a single change in the lower Eastern Shore, that the State's 2002 Plan satisfies Maryland constitutional requirements and is, therefore, valid. See MD. CONST., art. III, § 4. I agree with that finding. There is no single practical measure of compactness, in geometric terms, that is generally accepted by social scientists as definitive and, likewise, this Court has failed to provide a definition of the term. [10] The vast majority of jurisdictions have concluded that the compactness requirement, in the context of state legislative redistricting, is a relative standard. See Schrage v. State Bd. of Elections, 88 Ill.2d 87, 58 Ill.Dec. 451, 430 N.E.2d 483 (1981); Preisler v. Kirkpatrick, 528 S.W.2d 422, 426 (Mo.1975); Davenport v. Apportionment Comm'n, 65 N.J. 125, 319 A.2d 718 (1974); Schneider v. Rockefeller, 31 N.Y.2d 420, 340 N.Y.S.2d 889, 293 N.E.2d 67 (1972); In Re: Reapportionment Plan for Pa. Gen. Assembly, 497 Pa. 525, 442 A.2d 661 (1981); Opinion to the Governor, 101 R.I. 203, 221 A.2d 799 (1966); see also Legislative Districting, 299 Md. at 676, 475 A.2d at 438. The compactness requirement must be applied in light of, and in harmony with, the other legitimate constraints that interact with and operate upon it, including those factors that make some degree of noncompactness unavoidable, such as concentration of population, geography, convenience of access, means of communication, as well as the competing state constitutional constraints of contiguity and due regard for natural and political subdivision boundaries, the predominant constitutional requirement of substantial population equality, and the requirements of the VRA. See Legislative Districting, 299 Md. at 688, 475 A.2d at 443. [11] Thus, compactness ordinarily cannot be determined by a mere visual examination of an electoral map. See id. As we explained in Legislative Districting: As the cases so plainly indicate, the compactness requirement in state constitutions is intended to prevent political gerrymandering. Oddly shaped or irregularly sized districts of themselves do not, therefore, ordinarily constitute evidence of gerrymandering and noncompactness. On the contrary, an affirmative showing is ordinarily required to demonstrate that such districts were intentionally so drawn to produce an unfair political result, that is, to dilute or enhance the voting strength of discrete groups for partisan political advantage or other impermissible purposes. Thus, irregularity of shape or size of a district is not a litmus test proving violation of the compactness requirement. Id. at 687, 475 A.2d at 443. Contiguity has generally been defined as the ability to travel from one part of the district to any other part without crossing the district boundaryin other words, a contiguous district is one that is not divided into two or more discrete pieces. Hebert, supra, at 451; see also Legislative Districting, 299 Md. at 675-76, 475 A.2d at 437. In the context of the requirement in Article III, § 4 that districts must consist of adjoining territory, during the adoption of the 1968 Constitution, the Committee of the Whole Convention placed on the record a statement that it was the members' understanding that the contiguity and compactness requirements were a prohibition against the General Assembly forming a district that crossed the Chesapeake Bay. Mere separation of a district by any body of water does not render it noncontiguous. Cf. Anne Arundel Co. v. Annapolis, 352 Md. 117, 721 A.2d 217 (1998) (finding that areas of land separated by water were not noncontiguous pursuant to the Annapolis municipal annexation statute). Both compactness and contiguity are functional, rather than visual, considerations. They cannot be considered in isolation. See Beaubien v. Ryan, 198 Ill.2d 294, 260 Ill.Dec. 842, 762 N.E.2d 501 (2001); Cole-Randazzo v. Ryan, 198 Ill.2d 233, 260 Ill.Dec. 826, 762 N.E.2d 485 (2001). Compactness and contiguity, in application, are affected and influenced by the population equality requirement. They also include consideration of the shared political and economic interests of a community. See Bush v. Vera, 517 U.S. 952, 964, 116 S.Ct. 1941, 1954, 135 L.Ed.2d 248 (1996). The majority recognizes that the compactness and contiguity requirements are intended to prevent political gerrymandering, see maj. op. at 320-21, but fails to provide a workable definition of political gerrymandering or standards by which to determine whether an irregularly shaped district is the result of impermissible gerrymandering. The majority defines gerrymandering as `[t]he practice of dividing a geographical area into electoral districts, often of highly irregular shape, to give one political party an unfair advantage by diluting the opposition's voting strength.' Maj. op. at 303 n. 14. A district is not gerrymandered, however, simply because it may have irregular boundarieseven if such irregularity is the result of political considerations. To be unconstitutional, a plaintiff raising a gerrymandering claim must establish that there was intentional discrimination against an identifiable political group and that there was an actual discriminatory effect upon that group. See Davis v. Bandemer, 478 U.S. 109, 127, 106 S.Ct. 2797, 92 L.Ed.2d 85 (1986). No such affirmative showing of gerrymandering was made by petitioners in these cases, and, to the extent that the Court's Order or the majority opinion today shift the burden to the State to prove compactness and contiguity, they are an incorrect application of our prior case law. Section 4 of the Maryland Constitution provides that [d]ue regard shall be given to natural boundaries and the boundaries of political subdivisions. A redistricting plan demonstrates due regard for natural and political subdivision boundaries by keeping counties, cities, and towns intact, where it is possible to do so without doing violence to other legitimate redistricting considerations. See Hebert, supra, at 451. This Court has stated previously that the due regard requirement, while of mandatory application, by its very verbiage it would appear to be the most fluid of the constitutional components outlined in § 4. Legislative Districting, 299 Md. at 681, 475 A.2d at 439. As one commentator explains: Because [political subdivisions like cities and counties] vary tremendously in geographic size and population density, it is very difficult to make comparative judgments about decisions to split them. Hebert, supra, at 465 n. 163. Unfortunately, however, the majority's analysis of the due regard provision of Article III seems to be limited to a mere counting of the number of boundary crossings in the State's plan. See maj. op. at 325-26 (There is simply an excessive number of political subdivision crossings in this districting plan....); see generally maj. op. at 325. The majority maintains that the due regard provision of § 4 is mandatory. See maj. op. at 326-27. I agree. The question is not whether the due regard provision is mandatory (obviously shall in this context signals mandatory operation), but the real question is what due regard means. The majority asserts that, while the goals of avoiding the loss of experienced legislators and reducing incumbent contests are rational, they do not override the constitutional requirement that due regard be given the subdivision boundaries. Maj. op. at 328. Again, I agree with that simple statement. Protection of incumbents did not override the due regard provision in the State's redistricting plan; rather, due regard is necessarily a relative consideration that incorporates other permissible redistricting goals. Due regard, it seems to me, is analogous to the language contained in the Massachusetts Constitution, which requires, inter alia, that the Legislature shall divide the Commonwealth into representative districts of contiguous territory and that such districts shall be formed, as nearly as may be, without uniting two counties, towns, or cities. See MASS. CONST., art. 101. In Mayor of Cambridge v. Secretary of the Commonwealth, 436 Mass. 476, 765 N.E.2d 749 (2002), the Massachusetts redistricting statute was challenged because portions of the city of Cambridge were placed in six representative districts when all of the Commonwealth's constitutional requirements could have been met with fewer divisions. Rejecting the challenge, and interpreting the as nearly as may be requirement, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court stated: Because the redistricting process involves the consideration of these competing factors, the clause requiring the Legislature to avoid the division of cities, towns, and counties `as nearly as may be' cannot be interpreted to require that the Legislature adopt the plan with the absolute minimum number of districts that cross county, town, or city lines. The Legislature must adopt a plan for the entire State, and the divisions of a particular city, town, or county may be reasonable in light of the need to meet Federal and State requirements for the state as a whole. Thus, the phrase `as nearly as may be' requires the Legislature to adopt the plan with the fewest divisions, while taking into consideration all the other relevant factors. The Massachusetts Constitution does not require the Legislature simply to devise mathematically the plan with the least division of cities, towns or counties and then adopt that plan; its determination necessarily involves the use of discretion and, as in all legislation, compromise on the part of the Legislature. We have traditionally accorded the Legislature substantial deference in determining how to strike the proper balance among the various directives and goals laid out by State and Federal Law. The issue we must resolve is not whether a better plan exists, but `whether, once these various mandates and considerations are taken into account, the Legislature has unduly departed from the directive in art. 101 on which the plaintiffs rely.' The plaintiffs bear the burden of showing that the Legislature's plan violates art. 101 `beyond reasonable doubt.' As long as the legislature took `reasonable efforts to conform to the requirements of the Constitution,' we will uphold the Legislature's redistricting plan. The Legislature must consider each of the Federal and State requirements, but is not required to demonstrate explicitly how the plan meets each of those requirements. Although the plaintiffs have presented three alternatives to the redistricting statute, whether any of these plans is potentially superior to the redistricting statute is not determinative of the question we must decide. We consider the alternative plans as evidence that a plan with fewer divisions of Cambridge was possible. As long as the Legislature had a reasonable justification for drawing the districts as it did, we shall not question the Legislature's determination by comparing its selected plan to alternative plans that were not before it. The Constitution does not require that the Legislature adopt the best plan `that any ingenious mind can devise.' .... As long as the Legislature's actions are reasonably justified by an attempt to conform with the criteria laid out by Federal and State law, and do not clearly violate these laws, we shall not usurp the Legislature's role by selecting among competing plans. Id. at 755 (internal citations omitted). The formulation of redistricting plans involves complicated considerations requiring careful study and a weighing of factors. State constitutional requirements are but one of several different criteria that the legislative districts must satisfy. Districts also must be substantially equal in population, and they must be configured in such a way as to provide adequate representation to minorities and other special interests protected by federal law. No matter how compact, contiguous, or respectful of natural and political subdivision boundaries a proposed district may be geographically, it will not suffice under the law unless it complies with each of these other factors. Accordingly, perfect compactness, contiguity, and regard for boundaries is not required. Districts need only be reasonably compact and contiguous, and natural and political subdivision boundaries need be respected only when reasonably feasible to do so. Nonetheless, the majority, in striking down the State's 2002 plan and substituting its own, elevates Maryland constitutional redistricting requirements to a position of primary importance, far in excess of the weight given them in this Court's prior redistricting jurisprudence. A redistricting plan, approved and filed by the General Assembly, is presumed to be valid. See Legislative Redistricting, 331 Md. at 595, 629 A.2d at 656; Legislative Districting, 299 Md. at 688, 475 A.2d at 443; cf. Erfer & Albert v. Commonwealth of Pa., 794 A.2d 325 (Pa.2002) (stating that, as with any statute, a redistricting plan enjoys a presumption of constitutionality and will be declared unconstitutional only if it is clearly, palpably, and plainly unconstitutional). The majority makes the oblique statement that the presumption of validity may be overcome when, having been allocated the burden of proof, the State fails to carry it. Maj. op. at 328. This argument is a nonsequitur. By definition, a presumption of validity requires that the burden of proof is upon the party attempting to overcome the presumption. The plaintiffs challenging the plan bear the burden of establishing that the adopted plan is unconstitutional. With the exception of districts 37 and 38, they have failed to do so. [12] The State's 2002 plan is not discernibly different, in terms of Maryland constitutional requirements, from the plan approved by this Court in Legislative Redistricting Cases, 331 Md. 574, 629 A.2d 646 (1993), following the last federal decennial census. For example, the number of districts crossing the boundary between Baltimore City and Baltimore County remains the same as it was in the 1992 plan approved by this Court, less territory is involved in the 2002 crossings than in the 1992 plan, and a smaller percentage of Baltimore County's population shares a district with another jurisdiction under the State's 2002 plan (54.5%) than under the 1992 plan (55.5%). Furthermore, the State's 2002 plan rigorously adheres to population equality requirements and provides adequate representation to minorities and other special interests protected by federal law. Under these circumstances, there is insufficient basis for holding that the challenged districts in the State's 2002 plan are not reasonably compact or contiguous or do not show due regard for natural and political subdivision boundaries. In striking down the State's 2002 plan, the majority relies heavily upon the premise that it is possible to formulate alternative districts that would be more compact and contiguous and that would give greater regard to natural and political subdivision boundaries. The ability to devise more compact and contiguous formulations, with fewer boundary crossings, however, is not a sufficient basis for invalidating a map duly approved and filed according to law. See Legislative Districting, 299 Md. at 688, 475 A.2d at 443; accord Beaubien, 260 Ill.Dec. 842, 762 N.E.2d at 505. [13] As this Court explained in Legislative Districting: [I]t is not for the judiciary to determine whether a more compact district could have been drawn than that under challenge; the court's province is solely to determine whether the principles underlying the requirement of compactness of territory have been considered and properly applied considering all relevant circumstances. Id. at 680-81, 475 A.2d at 439 (emphasis added). The majority posits that preserving the core of existing districts, as a redistricting consideration, often will conflict with the due regard and compactness requirements in that it tends to perpetuate the status quo. Maj. op. at 328-29. I fail to see the constitutional problem with perpetuation of the status quo, particularly in light of the fact that this Court held the existing legislative districts (presumably the status quo), as drawn in 1992, to be constitutional. See Legislative Redistricting, 331 Md. at 616, 629 A.2d at 667. What better way is there to ensure stability and predictability in the process of decennial redistricting than to use existing judicially-approved districts as a starting point for reapportionment?