Lamone v. Benisek (18-726)

argument 18-726

Lamone v. Benisek

Supreme Court of the United States 59 min 7 speakers 8 chapters transcribed 5 days ago official recording ↗

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What is the central issue the Court is being asked to decide in Lamone v. Benisek?

John G. Roberts 0:00

We'll hear argument next in case eighteen seven twenty six, Lamone

George Leventhal 0:04

versus Benesec. Mr Sullivan? Mr Chief Justice, and may it please the Court. I would like quickly uh to try to reorient the Court to Maryland's case. And then um If I can address some of the concerns that I heard uh in the argument that you just had. Um in this case The Court should reverse and vacate for three reasons. The First Amendment retaliation test that was adopted a single test was used here fails to provide a management standard because it does not give courts and legislators the means to distinguish between excessive political considerations and those that have been deemed constitutionally acceptable.

Unknown 0:44

Was was this an excessive political consideration?

George Leventhal 0:48

I don't think it was, Your Honor. It whether y the court may like it or not, this is the norm for states where One party receives more than sixty percent of the vote in congressional elections, those states have a lineup of the state of the other. Well

Unknown 1:02

if if that's right, then your defense is not really that we can't tell the difference between excessive and non excessive, because under any measure this is excessive, isn't it? I mean you'd only need ten thousand votes to um to do the the population measure. that um uh that Baker requires and instead map makers move sixty six thousand Republicans out of the district. Twenty four thousand Democrats into the district. flips the composition of the district from forty seven percent Republicans and thirty six percent Democrats to instead forty five percent Democrats and thirty four percent Republicans, effectively ensuring that Republicans will never win this seat again and that re and that Maryland, which has about thirty five percent Republicans, is going to have one Republican House member for

Unknown 1:52

The foreseeable future. How is that not excessive?

George Leventhal 1:54

There's a number of things wrong with that, Your Honor, respectfully. One is it starts from the perspective that we take one district and we assume that it's the whole universe. It was like the famous New Yorker cartoon. All you see is New York buildings and not the rest of the country. Maps are formed. I'm piecing together parts of the entire state. This one The sixth district was heavily influenced by the decision that had nothing to do with partisan politics, and that was to remove a crossing across the Chesapeake Bay that was

Brett M. Kavanaugh 2:22

the stated goal was seven one. For some it was. But it was a goal and others. I mean I don't think you should run away from the obvious. I mean the crossing the the bay thing is Not very persuasive given all the evidence that this was just seven one. And you you know, you got Easton grouped in with Carroll County. Uh In Talbot County, Wicomaco County grouped in with west of Baltimore. That's just Uh as opposed to just crossing the bay. When everyone's saying we want seven one. I don't I just don't know in response to Justice Kagan's question you should run away from the obvious.

George Leventhal 3:07

The change in the first district that resulted from the cr Bay Crossing changed a competitive district that Democrats had actually been able to win. to a heavily leaning Republican district that Democrats are.

Brett M. Kavanaugh 3:21

Uh the other way and to get from six two to seven one or from five three or six two to seven one. You'd you get the sixth and eighth, both democratic. The first is going to be f Republican for the f foreseeable future, as Justice Kagan says, but it's going to be seven one. That's the stated goal. That's the goal that's effectuated.

George Leventhal 3:39

Well to get to that you have to discount other statements in the record, which you can't do on summary judgment, such as Governor O'Malley's statement that given the population growth in the western part of the central part of the state. Montgomery County primarily had the largest growth, you're going to see the most changes out the I two hundred seventy corridor. He also said that. So you'd have to say that. It is. That was established in this record. It's uh in from independent sources that have nothing to do with

Elena Kagan 4:09

They should have put it in the eighth district then.