Partisan gerrymandering can't be decided in federal courts, Supreme Court rules

Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks during a rally to coincide with the Supreme Court hearings on redistricting.
(Image credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

The Supreme Court has decided not to make a decision on partisan gerrymandering.

In two rulings announced Thursday, the court decided 5-4 against challengers to partisan gerrymandering, a practice that allows majority political parties to draw voting districts that benefit their candidates. The court's conservative justices backed the decision, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing that "partisan gerrymandering claims present political questions beyond the reach of the federal courts" in his majority opinion.

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Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.