Interesting Links for 09-11-2012
Nov. 9th, 2012 11:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
andrewducker- Has the EU Budget been rejected by auditors for the past 18 years?
- Republicans control the House of Representatives because of massive gerrymandering
- What to do if you see your identical double
- Obama regrets promising new Game of Thrones book
- New research shows that everyone was creepy in the 80s
- Google Nexus 4 Review
- Robots in the classroom help autistic children learn
- Why there isn’t a British Nate Silver
- More time has passed since John Constantine was invented than between him and Hal Jordan. So they're cancelling him.
- Scotland's new sex worker proposals harm those most in need of support.
- Metal-Coated Boulders Make Minneapolis Look Extraterrestrial
re: gerrymandering
Date: 2012-11-10 08:39 am (UTC)Smith v. Beasley opinion
"Gerrymandering has been a part of our political system since the word was coined more than 175 years ago. The drawing of district lines for political purposes has often been criticized, but it is not illegal. However, the Supreme Court has determined that gerrymandering which divides voters according to race violates the Equal Protection Clause. In Miller, the Court explained, "When the State assigns voters on the basis of race, it engages in the offensive and demeaning assumption that voters of a particular race, because of their race, 'think alike, share the same political interests, and will prefer the same candidates in the polls.' "
"Constitutional prohibition against dividing or segregating citizens by race applies equally to districting cases, and state's assignment of voters according to race is subject to court's strictest scrutiny under equal protection clause."
"Both the Senate and the House had sophisticated computer equipment that was maintained for the purpose of drawing election district lines. These machines were equipped with software that showed precincts, streets, population and racial composition of all areas based on the 1990 federal census data base. Technicians could show legislators how moving district lines could increase or decrease the racial makeup of a particular district."