Federal Court Upholds Redrawn General Assembly Maps
By Chuck Sudo in News on Dec 8, 2011 9:30PM
A three-judge federal court panel tossed a lawsuit filed by Illinois GOP leaders that claims the redrawn state legislative maps by their Democratic counterparts was unfair to minority groups and Republican voters.
Gov. Pat Quinn signed the new maps into law in June and said at the time they were "fair." House Minority Leader Tom Cross, Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, Illinois Republican Party chairman Pat Brady and 10 of Illinois' 11 congressmen accused state Dems of gerrymandering at the time the lawsuit was filed. Radogno said in a statement that they're reviewing their options:
"Our goal of providing all Illinois citizens a fair opportunity to elect representatives of their choice for the next decade remains. The map crafted by the majority particularly weakens the ability of minority voters to exercise their voting rights. This opinion could further weaken their position."
Below is the opinion which, in the opinion of Capitol Fax's Rich Miller, is pretty harsh and indicates playing politics with the remapping is A-OK with them.