Supreme Court Orders Full Hearing of Common Cause Member’s Challenge to Maryland Redistricting
Steve Shapiro, a Common Cause Maryland member and a longtime federal employee, filed that case that became Shapiro v. McManus on his own behalf. Though not a lawyer, he represented himself when the case came before U.S. District Judge James K. Breder in Baltimore and later when it was before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond. Judge Breder dismissed the case, concluding that the claim of partisan gerrymandering is not a matter for the courts to decide. While his decision was upheld by the 4th Circuit, the Supreme Court ruled...