Hawaii redistricting upheld
on Jan 21, 2014 at 9:45 am
The Supreme Court, in a one-line order without explanation, on Tuesday upheld the 2012 plan for redistricting the state legislature in Hawaii. A three-judge federal district court had rejected challenges to the plan by residents of Oahu.
The challengers argued that the plan failed to count many residents, such as members of the military and their families and students in college whose home states are elsewhere. Also protested was the fact that the plan did not include any districts that included people from more than one island — so-called “canoe districts.” As a result, there are broad differences in population between the districts, the Oahu residents contended.
The case was Kostick v. Nago (13-456).
The Court took no action Tuesday morning on a trio of cases challenging class-action claims by consumers about foul odors coming from washing machines. Two of the three cases had been to the Court before, and all three seek clarification of when consumers can band together to sue over a claimed product defect, if not all of them had experienced the same harm, and some had none at all. The cases (13-138, 13-430 and 13-431) conceivably could be put over to a later Conference.
Later today, the blog will have posts on the oral arguments.
