NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
TOPEKA — Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt anticipates the oral arguments before the Kansas Supreme Court regarding the Congressional redistricting map to happen next month.
"I expect we're probably going to make that argument on May 16," Schmidt said Thursday. "It appears to be the date everyone's coalescing around. We'll go from there and see what the court says and either validate these maps or it will be back in the legislature's court to try again."
The objection of those suing is that the equal protection clauses in the state constitution are violated and it dilutes their votes.
"From a population standpoint, it is legally satisfactory, no problems," Schmidt said. "There are folks who object to it. They object mainly because of the way the lines were drawn in Wyandotte County, Kansas City, Kansas and Douglas County, around Lawrence. They've gone to court and filed lawsuits. They didn't file federal lawsuits, which is the normal manner of challenging these federal district maps. Instead, for the first time in state history, they filed state lawsuits under state law theory in state court."
Even the judge who decided the litigants case had merit at the district court level acknowledges that the state Supreme Court is where the final decision will lie.
"Everybody knew that's where this was going to get settled, ultimately," Schmidt said. "The court is now in the process of setting up procedure for us to brief the argument and make the argument."
The lower court held that the legislature didn't follow its own criteria in drawing the map. It also said they didn't necessarily have to have criteria, but once they told people what it was, it was on them to follow it.