New York April 25 2011--As Texas lawmakers stew over the drawn-out process of redrawing Congressional election districts the chances of partisan gridlock and an eventual trip to court continue to grow.
A project by students in a first-of-its-kind class at Columbia Law School seeks to obviate many of those headaches. DrawCongress.org offers to states the efforts of students who have used state-of-the-art software to come up with new district boundaries that reflect changes in demographics party affiliation and population shifts.
The maps for Texas which are both non-partisan and legally defensible can be seen here.
The class is taught by Professor Nathaniel Persily one of the nations top experts on redistricting and gerrymandering. Persily was called on by courts in four states to redraw lines following the 2000 Census.
More information about the class can be found hereand here.
To interview Persily please contact the Law Schools Public Affairs Office at 212-854-2650 or email publicaffairs@law.columbia.edu.
The Law School also has a broadcast studio with IFB and ISDN lines to facilitate interviews. Please contact the Public Affairs Office to reserve a time slot.
New York April 25 2011--As Texas lawmakers stew over the drawn-out process of redrawing Congressional election districts the chances of partisan gridlock and an eventual trip to court continue to grow.
A project by students in a first-of-its-kind class at Columbia Law School seeks to obviate many of those headaches. DrawCongress.org offers to states the efforts of students who have used state-of-the-art software to come up with new district boundaries that reflect changes in demographics party affiliation and population shifts.
The maps for Texas which are both non-partisan and legally defensible can be seen here.
The class is taught by Professor Nathaniel Persily one of the nations top experts on redistricting and gerrymandering. Persily was called on by courts in four states to redraw lines following the 2000 Census.
More information about the class can be found hereand here.
To interview Persily please contact the Law Schools Public Affairs Office at 212-854-2650 or email publicaffairs@law.columbia.edu.
The Law School also has a broadcast studio with IFB and ISDN lines to facilitate interviews. Please contact the Public Affairs Office to reserve a time slot.
