By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services/Arizona Capitol Times
The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court gave a skeptical response today to arguments by Republican interests that the lines for the state’s 30 legislative districts were illegally drawn.
Attorney Mark Hearne told the justices that the Independent Redistricting Commission acted illegally when it adopted final maps with population deviations of up to 8.8 percent between the largest and the smallest. Hearne said the districts were gerrymandered for improper purposes.
That includes his contention that the five-member panel designed the map in a way to give Democrats an edge.
