Supreme Court blocks New York redistricting that could have given Democrats extra seat

The Supreme Court put a stop Monday on a lower court ruling that had ordered New York to redraw some congressional districts in a way that Democrats had hoped would net them an additional House seat.

The decision means that the state will carry out its elections this year under the current map, which carves out one GOP-friendly district centered on Staten Island.

A state trial court in New York had ordered the redistricting, saying minority voters in New York City deserved a better chance to elect a candidate of their choice.

The Supreme Court’s majority didn’t explain its ruling but Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., who was part of that majority, decried the state court’s action as “unadorned racial discrimination” and said the decision wasn’t likely to withstand scrutiny by higher courts.

So he said it made sense to put things on ice and not force a likely unconstitutional map on voters this year.

“For these reasons, the stay issued by the court rests on sound and well-established legal grounds,” he wrote.

The court’s three Democrat-appointed justices dissented, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor saying the GOP majority was violating its own principles by intervening to shut things down.

“Time and again, this court has said that federal courts have limited jurisdiction. Time and again, this court has said that federal courts should not interfere with state-court litigation. Time and again, this court has said that federal courts should not meddle with state election laws ahead of an election,” she wrote. “Today, the court says: except for this one, except for this one, and except for this one.”

The dispute centers on the state’s 11th congressional district, held by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, one of seven Republicans compared to 19 Democrats.

It covers Staten Island and the southern tip of Brooklyn.

The map was drawn by a commission. The state court had ordered the commission to go back and alter the 11th district lines to link Staten Island to Manhattan instead. Those different voters could tip the district to Democrats.

The ruling is the latest in a series of cases where the justices have had to decide what maps will be used in November’s elections.

Previously it allowed Texas’s GOP gerrymander, which could net Republicans up to five seats, to stand. And it also allowed to stand California’s Democrat-led gerrymander, designed to cost the GOP five seats.