California high court rejects challenges to redistricting

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Reporting from San Francisco and Sacramento -- The California Supreme Court refused Wednesday to intervene in new voting districts drawn by a citizens commission, deciding unanimously to reject two challenges to the boundaries.

The high court considered the legal challenges, brought by Republicans seeking to overturn congressional and state Senate district maps, in a closed session, and the judges did not comment on their reasons for rejecting the lawsuits.

"We're disappointed that the court denied the petition on the Senate districts without a hearing," said Charles H. Bell, an attorney for the plaintiffs. Their lawsuit alleged that some of the boundaries violate state constitutional requirements that districts be compact and contiguous and fail to comply with the federal voting rights law governing minority representation.

California voters took the redistricting task away from the Legislature and created the citizens commission to do it every 10 years, after the census, to adjust for population changes.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-redistricting-20111027,0,6760600.story