Except this time it’s the courts the Republicans want to redistrict. Already in Texas and other states, Republicans have gone on a non-census redistricting spree in state congressional districts in order to grab more power and control in Congress. Supposedly-“moderate” California Governor Schwarzenegger has been pushing hard to redistrict California to more Republican-friendly standards, even though the Democrats control the legislature. They always state non-political “reasons,” but in the end it’s always proposed by Republicans and only in states where Republicans would gain by it. In California, the redistricting measure is called “more fair,” but Republicans never call for “fairness” in states where they already control redistricting–they would fiercely oppose the exact same measure in Texas, for example.

Now it’s the courts they want to gerrymander. The 9th Circuit has always been a thorn in the Republicans’ paw, being the most powerful liberal federal appellate court. So two Republican Senators, Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and John Ensign (Nevada) want to split the 9th Circuit so that the more liberal side can be contained, and an expansive new 12th Circuit made up of more conservative states can take away their influence. The 9th Circuit has already expressed disagreement, and one of its members, a former Alaska Supreme Court justice, has testified that it would be more effective to simply add judges than to split the court.

Only after the Republicans call for “fairness” in states they already control, or redistrict the deeply conservative 5th Circuit court, I’ll agree to look at such standards in California. Until then, it is blazingly evident that this is nothing more than a highly partisan power grab by the right wing.