In an article written by Political Science Lecturer Scott Lemieux, Lemieux explains the attacks on the Judicial system when they run contrary to those of the legislature. After the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the state gerrymandered districts were illegal; which gave Republicans 13 of the 18 seats even though the Democrats had won the majority in the statewide vote, the Republicans have declared a new strategy - attack the independence of the courts. Though the new district maps still favor the Republicans since the Democratic voting blocks are centered in the state’s largest cities, they have continued to attack the courts as being partisan.
These attacks goes contrary to the constitution of Pennsylvania which states that “Elections shall be free and Equal,” which was the court’s interpretation of the case in districting. The arguments that the Republicans have is that legislature should be the final arbiter of the case which is illegal, as the Supreme Court has ruled that these egregiously malapportioned districts cannot represent the principle of One Man, One Vote.
In addition to these attacks on the courts as being partisan, some have proposed to impeach the judges with others wishing to bring the case to the Supreme Court; even though the case is involving a state court interpreting state law. These attacks seem are behavior of a party scared of fair fight states Scott Lemieux.
To read the full article click here.