Dems set to gerrymander state Supreme Court

After a tight retention attempt for Justice Thomas Kilbride in Illinois' 3rd Judicial District, the Democratic justice did not meet the 60% of votes necessary to hold his seat. This has left Democratic officials in all three branches of Illinois' government fearful of losing their Supreme Court majority during the 2022 election. In response to this, it is likely that Illinois' General Assembly will gerrymander Supreme Court districts to create an easier playing field for Democratic judge candidates in the 3rd Judicial District.

This would be a direct breach of the checks and balances instilled in U.S. institutions and a potential violation of the "one person, one vote" principle.

The framers of the U.S. Constitution, which is generally replicated in Illinois' Constitution, built in a series of checks and balances to prevent one branch from gaining excessive power through checks from other branches. Illinois' legislature is trying to undermine this principle by creating Supreme Court Judicial Districts that generate a court in the favor of the Democratic majority. This weakens the check that the court has over the legislature, and, in turn, the Democratic governor, opening up to potential abuse of power.

Another consequence of this redistricting would be the infringement upon the "one person, one vote" principle established in Baker v Carr. A redistrict in favor of the Democrats will mostly likely require population sizes between the 3rd and surrounding districts to become more uneven. This would devalue or inflate the weight of votes in said districts, weakening democracy.

Steffen Brown

Mundelein