Note: The Brennan Center is not a participant in this case.
Case Background
The Ohio A. Philip Randolph Institute, the League of Women Voters of Ohio, and a group of Ohio residents filed suit contenting Ohio’s 2011 congressional map is an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander that violates the First and Fourteenth Amendment and Article I of the U.S. Constitution. The plaintiffs argue the map was intentionally designed to give Republicans an 12–4 advantage in congressional seats and entrench that advantage over the course of the decade. This skewed partisan advantage, the suit argues, prevents large segments of Ohio’s voters from having their votes meaningfully reflected in their congressional delegation.
On August 15, the court denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss, permitting the plaintiffs to proceed on all of their claims.
On August 16, the panel permitted members of the Republican congressional delegation, Ohio voters, and Republican party organizations to intervene in the case. The case went to trial on March 4, 2019.
On May 3, 2019, the court struck down the congressional plan as unconstitutional and ordered the legislature to draw a remedial map by June 14.
On May 6, 2019, both the defendants and intervenors appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. On May 24, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the defendants’ and the intervenors’ applications to stay the remedial mapdrawing process pending appeal.
On June 3, 2019, the intervenors appealed two discovery-related orders to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit: (1) an order granting plaintiffs’ motion to compel compliance with subpoenas, and (2) an order denying intervenors’ motion for a protective order. Oral argument took place January 29, 2020. On February 5, the Sixth Circuit issued a per curiam opinion dismissing the appeal as moot and vacating the orders in question.
On October 7, the Supreme Court vacated the lower court’s judgment and remanded the case for further proceedings in light of the Court’s ruling in Rucho v. Common Cause dismissing partisan gerrymandering claims as non-justiciable by federal courts.
Documents
District Court
- Complaint (May 23, 2018)
- Plaintiffs’ Motion to Expedite (June 11, 2018)
- Defendants’ Position Statement (June 11, 2018)
- First Amended Complaint (June 26, 2018)
- Second Amended Complaint (July 11, 2018)
- Scheduling Order (July 17, 2018)
- Motion to Intervene (July 20, 2018)
- Memorandum in Support of Motion to Intervene (July 20, 2018)
- Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (July 20, 2018)
- Plaintiffs’ Brief in Opposition to Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (August 3, 2018)
- Plaintiffs’ Brief in Opposition to Motion to Intervene (August 3, 2018)
- Defendants’ Brief in Support of Motion to Dismiss (August 10, 2018)
- Intervenor Applicants’ Brief in Support of Motion to Intervene (August 10, 2018)
- Order Denying Motion to Dismiss (August 15, 2018)
- Order Granting Motion to Intervene (August 16, 2018)
- Intervenors’ Answer to the Second Amended Complaint (August 28, 2018)
- Plaintiffs’ Notice of Disclosure of Proposed Remedial Map (September 28, 2018)
- Plaintiffs’ Proposed Remedial Map (September 28, 2018)
- Motion for Summary Judgment (January 8, 2019)
- Intervenors’ Brief in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment (January 8, 2019)
- Joint Proposed Pretrial Order (January 18, 2019)
- Defendant’s Motion to Stay Trial (January 28, 2019)
- Plaintiffs’ Reply in Opposition to Motion to Stay Trial (February 5, 2019)
- Amicus Brief of Geauga and Lake Counties (February 6, 2019)
- Defendants’ Reply in Support of Motion to Stay Trial (February 7, 2019)
- Joint Uncontroverted Facts (February 7, 2019)
- Order Denying Motion to Stay Trial (February 8, 2019)
- Order Granting Motion to Substitute Larry Householder and Frank LaRose as Defendants (February 11, 2019)
- Order Denying Motion for Summary Judgment (February 15, 2019)
- Final Pretrial Order (February 27, 2019)
- Order Regarding Post-Trial Briefing (March 14, 2019)
- Plaintiffs’ Proposed Conclusions of Law and Post-Trial Brief (March 23, 2019)
- Plaintiffs’ Proposed Findings of Fact (March 23, 2019)
- Defendants’ and Intervenors’ Proposed Conclusions of Law and Post-Trial Brief (March 28, 2019)
- Defendants’ and Intervenors’ Proposed Findings of Fact (March 28, 2019)
- Plaintiffs’ Post-Trial Reply Brief (April 2, 2019)
- Opinion and Order (May 3, 2019)
- Defendants’ Notice of Appeal (May 6, 2019)
- Defendants’ Motion to Stay Injunction Pending Appeal (May 6, 2019)
- Intervenors’ Notice of Appeal (May 6, 2019)
- Intervenors’ Motion for Stay Pending Appeal (May 6, 2019)
- Plaintiffs’ Brief in Opposition to Motions for Stay (May 8, 2019)
- Order Denying Motions for Stay (May 9, 2019)
- Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction (October 11, 2019)
U.S. Supreme Court
Defendants’ Appeal
Emergency Application for Stay (Docket No. 18A1165)
- Emergency Application for Stay Pending Appeal (May 10, 2019)
- Respondents’ Brief in Opposition to Application for Stay (May 20, 2019)
- Reply Brief in Support of Application for Stay (May 21, 2019)
Application for Extension of Time to File Jurisdictional Statement (Docket No. 18A1242)
- Application for Extension of Time to File Jurisdictional Statement (May 28, 2019)
- Respondents’ Brief in Opposition to Application (May 29, 2019)
Jurisdictional Briefing (Docket No. 19–70)
- Jurisdictional Statement (July 10, 2019)
- Appellees’ Motion to Dismiss (August 12, 2019)
- Amicus Brief of Stephen M. Shapiro in Support of Appellees (August 12, 2019)
- Order (October 7, 2019)
Intervenor-Defendants’ Appeal
Emergency Application for Stay (Docket No. 18A1166)
- Emergency Application for Stay Pending Appeal (May 10, 2019)
- Respondents’ Brief in Opposition to Application for Stay (May 20, 2019)
- Reply Brief in Support of Application for Stay (May 21, 2019)
Application for Extension of Time to File Jurisdictional Statement (Docket No. 18A1288)
Jurisdictional Briefing (Docket No. 19–110)
- Jurisdictional Statement (July 19, 2019)
- Order (October 7, 2019)
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (intervenors’ appeal of motion to compel and motion for protective order)
- Appellants’ Brief (August 14, 2019)
- Appellees’ Brief (September 13, 2019)
- Amicus Brief of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in Support of Appellees (September 20, 2019)
- Reply Brief (October 14, 2019)
- Per Curiam Opinion (February 5, 2020)