Kentucky
Divided Kentucky Supreme Court affirms voting districts in gerrymandering challenge – NKyTribune
By McKenna Horsley
Kentucky Lantern
Kentucky’s recently redrawn congressional and legislative districts will stand for future elections.
(Editor’s note: The justices delivered an eight-part decision, six of which were adopted on a 4-3 vote, while the other two were approves 5-2.)
In an opinion published Thursday, the Kentucky Supreme Court affirmed Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate’s previous decision that the maps were a result of “partisan gerrymanders” but did not find them unconstitutional.
“Regardless of how unusual or eye-raising it may be, we must not erase it unless it plainly leaves the four corners of our constitutional frame,” the opinion, written by Justice Angela McCormick Bisig, says. “In applying the substantially deferential standard we afford to purely political acts by a coordinate branch of government, we perceive no such constitutional infirmity and thus affirm the trial court’s conclusion that the redistricting statutes pass constitutional muster.”
Kentucky Supreme Court, back row, Justices Christopher Shea Nickell, Kelly Thompson, Robert B. Conley, Angela McCormick Bisig. Front, Debra Hembree Lambert, Chief Justice Laurance B. VanMeter, Michelle M. Keller, in the Supreme Court chambers at the state Capitol. (AOC photo/Brian Bohannon)
Kentucky Democrats filed the lawsuit after the Republican supermajority in the General Assembly adopted the maps last year. The Supreme Court decided to hear the case earlier this year, bypassing the Court of Appeals.
Justices heard oral arguments in the case in September. At the time, Michael Abate, a Louisville attorney representing Democrats, told reporters the court will have to decide if the state Constitution prohibits a majority party from gerrymandering or creating districts to heavily favor the party in power. He said elections with preordained outcomes because of gerrymandering are “not ‘free or equal,’” as the state Constitution requires.
However, Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams, a defendant in the lawsuit, said after oral arguments the case hinges on what is in the state Constitution regarding gerrymandering, not just the new maps.
“Our position is that the Constitution doesn’t speak to this issue at all. If it did, why’d the Democrats gerrymander their maps for 100 years?” Adams said. “So my view is this is a matter in the Constitution left up to the legislature, and they can use their own standards as long as they comply with the Voting Rights Act.”
In response to Thursday’s ruling, Adams said in a statement was “pleased” that the Court “overwhelmingly rejected the Kentucky Democratic Party’s reckless, frivolous and hypocritical lawsuit that sought to impose a different set of election rules through the courts, following Democrats’ loss of legislative control that they had previously won for decades under those very rules.”
The Republican Party of Kentucky also applauded the decision.
“The highest court in Kentucky has rejected a pathetic attempt by the Democrats to throw out Kentucky’s congressional and state house district maps,” RPK spokesman Sean Southard said. “The Court rightfully rejected the Democrat effort to manipulate the political process and sue their way into the Congress and the state house.”
Kentucky House Democrats said the Supreme Court had upheld “textbook examples of extreme partisan gerrymandering.” House Democratic leaders Reps. Derrick Graham, Cherlynn Stevenson and Rachel Roberts issued this statement: “It has often been said that voters should be the ones who choose their leaders, not the other way around. We still believe in that, which is why we firmly disagree with today’s Kentucky Supreme Court decision. It gives legislative majorities much more authority to protect themselves at the expense of many voters while guaranteeing more political polarization for decades to come.
“The current congressional and state House maps are textbook examples of extreme partisan gerrymandering, from how they were drawn in secret to how they effectively decided the outcome of most races by the end of the primary. This entire process should have been rejected today; instead, we fear it will now become standard procedure,” the Democrats said.
The Kentucky Democratic Party also expressed disappointment with the ruling.
“Today’s ruling reversing the lower court’s finding that these maps are extreme partisan gerrymanders – while deeply disappointing – will be an important bulwark against future efforts to draw more extreme partisan gerrymandered maps in Kentucky,” Kentucky Democratic Party Chair Colmon Elridge said in a statement. “The Republican majority worked behind closed doors to draw districts that cut up communities for partisan gain to beat incumbents they couldn’t beat on a fair playing field.
Frankfort politicians should not decide who they represent, and Republicans will only grow bolder in coming decades if we don’t put a stop to the GOP majority. Kentucky’s future is on the line and the KDP intends to fight for it.”
In his weekly press conference, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear called for a constitutional amendment, though noted it would be difficult to pass in the General Assembly.
Justice Christopher Shea Nickell, concurring with the majority opinion in part while also dissenting in part, wrote “any comprehensive remedy for the deleterious effects of partisan gerrymandering must be addressed through the political process.”
“Should the people discern egregious, arrogant political abuse upon review of the legislative redistricting plans enacted by their elected representatives in the General Assembly, their ultimate remedy lies in a constitutional amendment or expulsion of the perpetrators at the polls,” Nickell wrote. “In short, review and remedy of controversies related to political gerrymandering reside with the people.”
Justice Robert B. Conley, in dissent, wrote he agreed with much of the court’s analysis but disagreed that Democrats “had standing to bring such claims in the first place.”
(Editor’s note) Justice Michelle Keller also dissented in part, related to “county splitting” — and the 18 counties “split multiple times” and containing “three or more districts.” This does not respect “county integrity.” She gave as an example Kenton County which was “unnecessarily carved into 6 districts” and Pike County which was unnecessarily split 3 times into 4 districts.”
See the ruling in its entirety here.
Kentucky played Texas competitively during stretches of Saturday’s game in Austin but an ugly stretch in the second quarter gave the Horns a lead they would never relinquish.
Here are some of the key numbers that tell the story of what happened in the game.
209 … More yards for Texas than Kentucky. That’s not surprising but speaks to the challenge. The Horns had 441 yards of offense with a lot of balance (250 on the ground, 191 through the air) while the Cats mustered only 211 yards of offense, almost all of which was passing.
160 … The total passing yards for Cutter Boley. The freshman was 10/18 for 160 yards and an interception. Boley entered the game because Brock Vandagriff was struggling and he did a lot to impress. He saw the field well, made some confident reads and delivered catchable balls down the field.
158 … Rushing yards for Texas’ Quintrevion Wisner. The Longhorns rushed for 250 yards on the game.
25:30 … Time of possession for Kentucky in the game. Any upset bid would have been aided by Kentucky controlling the ball more than Texas. That did not happen.
20 … Carries for Kentucky running backs Jamarion Wilcox (50 yards) and Demie Sumo-Karngbaye (30 yards). Wilcox had a long of 18 while DSK’s long was just six yards. The backs had decent success considering the opponent but Boley was charged with -57 rushing yards.
17 … Second quarter points for the Longhorns. That’s when the game appeared to be decided. First, the Horns went 65 yards in 11 plays for a touchdown. Then after a Vandagriff pick they scored again quickly before adding a field goal as the half ran out.
11 … Fumbles in the game. It was almost comical how often the ball was bouncing at times. Kentucky fumbled five times but didn’t lose one of them, while Texas fumbled six times and lost two.
10 … Tackles for sophomore Texas linebacker Anthony Hill, who we said coming into the game was playing at an All-American level. He had two sacks and three tackles for loss as the most active, productive Texas defender in the game. He was a problem Kentucky couldn’t account for.
6 … Sacks by the Texas defense. That led to UK only being credited with 21 rushing yards on the game, but more important was the impact on UK’s offensive results. The protection issues have been persistent all season.
2/12 ... Kentucky on third down. That’s not going to get it done in a game like this. That’s a big reason why Texas ran 23 more plays than Kentucky, and had the ball for 10 minutes longer. The big problem was that Kentucky averaged 11.1 yards to go on third down today.
0 … The turnover margin in the game. That gave Kentucky a chance to play somewhat competitively. Both teams had seven points off turnovers with UK’s being Jamon Dumas-Johnson’s return.
AUSTIN — Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers went into the medical tent in the second quarter of Saturday’s home finale against the Kentucky Wildcats after the conclusion of a touchdown drive. Ewers appeared to have his ankle rolled up on earlier in the possession but never went off to the sidelines despite having a small limp.
Fortunately for the Longhorns, he was right back on the field for Texas’ next drive after an acrobatic interception from Jelani McDonald. A few plays later, he connected with Gunnar Helm for his second touchdown catch of the day on a 17-yard score.
Ewers has, of course, been no stranger to injuries during his time at Texas. He’s in his third year with Texas but has missed a total of seven games as a Longhorn due to injury, with at least two absences in each season. This included two missed games this season due to an oblique injury he suffered against UTSA.
Naturally, the conversation of him earning the “injury-prone” label is a real one to have, but head coach Steve Sarkisian sees things differently.
“I don’t necessarily think so,” Sarkisian said. “Sometimes injuries happen because they happen, you know? … I mean, when a guy gets pile-drived on his shoulder, there’s a pretty good chance — it doesn’t matter who you are — your shoulder is probably going to be sore to some capacity. Or when you get pile-drived and your clavicle gets, gets popped. I mean, I don’t know many guys that would have withstood that hit from Dallas Turner a couple years ago. That was an odd hit. And I’ve seen that injury, that same injury Quinn had that year, Jalen Hurts had as well. Oddly enough, he has the oblique strain there a few weeks ago, and I’m watching the game the other night. Derek Carr is out of the game, oblique strain.”
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This Kentucky basketball team is now 5-0 after a blowout win against Jackson State. A big part of the Wildcats’ success this season has undoubtedly been their unslefishness and the ability to make that extra pass. Their assist numbers prove it. Through five games, Kentucky has an assist rate of 61.6% of all of their made baskets through those games combined.
After the game, Mark Pope talked about how well this team shares the ball, and he describes it as a type of built-in DNA that each player on this Kentucky roster has. It has showed so far this season.
“I thought our guys did an unbelievable job making plays for each other. You know, 29
assists is a good number for us and I would take that any night, especially in a game
like this where it is so easy to think, awe man, in this game I’m just going to get one for myself. We just have a DNA, these guys have built a DNA on this team where they are actually excited to make plays for each other and I’m telling you that bodes well and it’s rare and it is important for the way we play and how this game is made up and our guys are going to continue to believe more and more that the more they give the more they get back, it’s the way this game works when it’s right and certainly they got to feel that tonight. I was really proud of them. …One of the special stories for us tonight is that we had 11 players score, 11 of our 12 guys scored. The only player that didn’t score led us in assists. That’s exactly how a Kentucky basketball team is supposed to function. We had one guy that didn’t score and he led us in assists with seven. And every other guy on the court scored and shared the ball, I think we had four guys with five or more assists in the game.”– Pope on Kentucky’s unselfishness.
Kentucky has been sharing the ball all season, and that is a huge identity for this team. On Friday night, their assist numbers were impressive. The Wildcats had 29 assists on their 41 made shots, which is an outstanding percentage of baskets being off of assists. It’s also worth noting that Kerr Kriisa didn’t score, but he dished out 7 assists in just 12 minutes of action.
The way this Kentucky team passes the ball adds to the excitement when watching them. A fun brand of basketball, especially when the ball moves around as much as they make it happen.
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