Monday, May 28, 2012
Orange Bureau Confidential: Federal court tosses claims challenging new Assembly lines
A federal court has dismissed claims that
threatened to upend newly drawn lines for Assemblywoman Annie Rabbitt's
district and those of surrounding Assembly districts in Orange and
Rockland counties.
A legal challenge brought
by a Town of Ramapo councilman had accused state lawmakers of diluting
the voting power of Ramapo's large Hasidic population by separating the
Hasidic villages of New Square and Kaser into two Assembly districts
rather than keeping them in the same one, as they are now.
The
plaintiff, Yitzchok Ullman, also wanted the new lines invalidated
because the state has been violating its own constitution since 1972 by
dividing the Town of Ramapo into three Assembly districts, when it
should have only one. Rabbitt, whose district is mostly in Orange
County, represents a slice of Ramapo.
But a court panel has dismissed those
objections and allowed the new Ramapo division to stand. In a series of
rulings on various redistricting objections signed May 16, the judges
noted that Ullman's attorney had retreated from his claim of religious
discrimination, leaving him with no federal claims to assert.
And
without that, they said, they wouldn't even consider the question of
whether splitting up Ramapo violates the state constitution.
The
ruling averts a wholesale redrawing of local Assembly lines, since
forcing state lawmakers to fit Ramapo in a single district would also
have required them to adjust all the districts around it.
Rabbitt's
new district — if she's re-elected this year — will include a different
mix of Orange County towns and new parts of Ramapo, including the
Village of Kaser. Myrna Kemnitz, a Monroe resident and Democratic Orange
County legislator, plans to challenge the Greenwood Lake Republican in
November.
Comments:
Post a Comment
