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The Supreme Court blocked Virginia Republicans' effort to redraw congressional district lines Monday, completing a sweep of this year's major high court redistricting cases by Democrats and minorities.
The justices ruled unanimously that three GOP House members challenging lines drawn by a federal district court lacked standing to bring the case because they could not show they were directly affected.
The Virginia district lines all but doomed a Republican lawmaker's chance of re-election by redrawing his district to give African American voters an increased opportunity to add a second black member to the state's House delegation. Justice Stephen Breyer, who wrote the decision, acknowledged during oral argument in March that Rep. Randy Forbes "goes from a safe seat to a seat he's probably going to lose."
But the court's brief ruling said that because Forbes chose to run in another district rather than face likely defeat in his current district, he cannot show that the redistricting plan affects him. Neither, Breyer wrote, could the other Republican House members filing suit.
"When challenged by a court (or by an opposing party) concerned about standing, the party invoking the court's jurisdiction cannot simply allege a non-obvious harm, without more," Breyer wrote. "Here, there is no 'more.'"
Forbes, an eight-term congressman with seniority on the House Armed Services Committee, is competing in a three-way Republican primary in the district of retiring Rep. Scott Rigell. He is not required to live in the new district in order to represent it in Congress.
Earlier this year, Democratic and minority voters also won disputes over political lines in Texas and Arizona. Last year, they prevailed in an Alabama case.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/05/23/supreme-court-virginia-redistricting-republicans/84777584/