A minor correction. Thanks to the 2020 and reapportionment Montana no longer has 1 seat but now has 2. So, your comparison between Montana and RI 2nd is out of date. As usual an insightful illuminating post. For those who want to know more about gerrymandering, Fivethirtyeight did a series of podcasts about it a couple of years ago. https://fivethirtyeight.com/tag/the-gerrymandering-project/ The importance of this cannot be over emphasized. It is appearing that the Republicans margin to control the House is entirely due to their successful gerrymanders in FL, AL and TX.
Dr. Chervinsky - I love this essay. SCOTUS is addressing another, extremely concerning, case on legislative redistricting called Moore v. Harper. It presents the bogus "Independent State Legislature" theory which, if adopted, would eliminate state judicial oversight of state legislative redistricting even if they violate state constitutional equal protection or due process requirements. Arguments on December 7. Stay tuned. (and yes, the Gerry-Mander was in the north east of Massachusetts. The Jeffersonians were most popular in the west - Daniel Shays and all that - but the federalists controlled the areas closest to Boston including Amesbury and Salem where Sedwick ruled).
The original Gerrymandered district isn’t on the western border of Massachusetts. Salisbury, Salem, Danvers and Marblehead are all Atlantic seaboard towns. And the whole district is roughly Middlesex County with a little bit of Essex today - quintessential Eastern Mass!
The western border of Mass is the Berkshires, and was at the time as well.
BTW, Substack would be great. I am done with Elon Musk and Twitter.
I look forward to your Newsletter each month. It is a breath of fresh air. Thank you.
Great analysis Dr. Chervinsky
A minor correction. Thanks to the 2020 and reapportionment Montana no longer has 1 seat but now has 2. So, your comparison between Montana and RI 2nd is out of date. As usual an insightful illuminating post. For those who want to know more about gerrymandering, Fivethirtyeight did a series of podcasts about it a couple of years ago. https://fivethirtyeight.com/tag/the-gerrymandering-project/ The importance of this cannot be over emphasized. It is appearing that the Republicans margin to control the House is entirely due to their successful gerrymanders in FL, AL and TX.
Dr. Chervinsky - I love this essay. SCOTUS is addressing another, extremely concerning, case on legislative redistricting called Moore v. Harper. It presents the bogus "Independent State Legislature" theory which, if adopted, would eliminate state judicial oversight of state legislative redistricting even if they violate state constitutional equal protection or due process requirements. Arguments on December 7. Stay tuned. (and yes, the Gerry-Mander was in the north east of Massachusetts. The Jeffersonians were most popular in the west - Daniel Shays and all that - but the federalists controlled the areas closest to Boston including Amesbury and Salem where Sedwick ruled).
The original Gerrymandered district isn’t on the western border of Massachusetts. Salisbury, Salem, Danvers and Marblehead are all Atlantic seaboard towns. And the whole district is roughly Middlesex County with a little bit of Essex today - quintessential Eastern Mass!
The western border of Mass is the Berkshires, and was at the time as well.
I like reading articles on substack