Will the House redistricting decision be sent back?

NM Supreme Court hears House redistricting appeal

From Capitol Report New Mexico - Things are never simple in New Mexico politics. A couple months after a redistricting court judge — selected by the state’s Supreme Court – ruled in favor of a plan establishing new voting boundaries for the House of Representatives submitted by attorneys for Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, the high court listened to appeals from Democrats’ attorneys on Tuesday (Feb. 7) arguing that the decision was flawed. And while it’s always dangerous to discern what justices may rule based upon the questions they ask, it appears that at least two of the five jurors are open to the idea of remanding the case back to redistricting Judge Jim Hall. “Why shouldn’t we just let Judge Hall give it another try to preserve a community of interest” concern brought up by the appellants, asked Justice Richard C. Bosson during the two-plus hours of arguments. “The failure of the legislature and the governor [to reach an agreement on redistricting] is pretty remarkable,” Justice Edward L. Chavez said from the bench, adding that “we as a Supreme Court should offer some guidance [to Judge Hall].” An attorney for the governor, Paul Kennedy, argued that remanding the cases back to Judge Hall would open a host of problems. “Judge Hall made a reasonable decision,” Kennedy told the court. “If you send it back and tell him to redraw [the redistricting map] … you’re still going to have the same effect on the map … every map has some political bias.” Read more

Will the House redistricting decision be sent back?