This week, the Cato Institute promoted an opinion piece on gerrymandering by JLF’s Mitch Kokai on its Overlawyered website, which focuses on the high costs of America’s legal system. Kokai’s article focuses on a report from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. The report’s author, Charles Blahous, argues that instead of focusing on the partisan outcomes of gerrymandering, reform should focus on limiting the irregularity of district shapes. Blahous also asserts that the best way to achieve that goal is through federal law rather than the judicial system. Kokai quotes Blahous in his article:
“Gerrymandering is a substantial public policy problem and should be constrained,” said report author Charles Blahous, Mercatus senior research strategist… “The focus on the political effects of gerrymandering has been somewhat misguided,” he said during an interview for the John Locke Foundation’s “HeadLocke” podcast. “Gerrymandering reform, if you want to do it right, shouldn’t be a matter of a political balancing exercise.”
Read Kokai’s full article here and see more recommendations from Cato’s Overlawyered website here. You can also listen to Mitch Kokai’s interview with Charles Blahous here.
