Steven Rosenfeld: Supreme Court Rulings in Gerrymandering Cases Will Determine U.S. Election Map

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

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Supreme Court Rulings in Gerrymandering Cases Will Determine U.S. Election Map

Posted Feb. 7, 2018

Interview with Steven Rosenfeld, author and writer of democracy and voting rights issues for Alternet.org, conducted by Scott Harris

As Democrats gear up for this November’s 2018 midterm election, hoping to take over the U.S. House of Representatives and possibly the Senate, the issue of gerrymandered congressional district maps has become an ever more important issue. Back in 2010, Republicans focused their electoral effort on taking over state legislatures from coast to coast, with the prize being the right to redraw congressional district maps based on census data that is gathered every ten years.

The Republican’s “Red Map” project, as it was called, succeeded. Once the maps were redrawn to provide GOP candidates a partisan advantage, Republicans have had a lock on controlling the House of Representatives. However, in recent years, lawsuits have been filed challenging the constitutionality of partisan gerrymandering in Wisconsin, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

In Pennsylvania where Republicans hold 13 of 18 congressional seats due to gerrymandered districts, a lawsuit resulted in the state Supreme Court striking down the congressional map. Republicans appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, but on Feb. 5 the high court declined to hear the case. Now the GOP-controlled legislature must draw new maps by Feb. 15. Between The Lines’ Scott Harris spoke with Steven Rosenfeld, who covers democracy and voting rights issues for Alternet.org. Here, he discusses the challenges to gerrymandering in Pennsylvania – and the U.S. Supreme Court’s role ruling on other important partisan gerrymandering cases that could determine which party controls Congress.

STEVEN ROSENFELD: In 2011, the Republicans in Pennsylvania – like many other states – they just went crazy. They didn't draw maps based on logical things like county lines or school districts or urban centers so that if you're a member of Congress, you represent a constituency. They went down to the neighborhood and block level using all the information that all the people now know is out there and they basically segregated the voters by party. And as a result, and this is what gerrymandering is about, the Republicans gave themselves districts where they could win with 55, 56, 57 percent of the vote based on their most reliable voters. And they made sure that the Democrats never reached those numbers. And then they took the Democrats where they were, and they made sure they would win with 65, 70 percent. So they they call it cracking and packing. And over the this last decade, there's been a ton of litigation in a lot of states, and it's just been simmering and simmering along and now, it's finally worked its way to the state Supreme Courts.

And in Pennsylvania, there was a very unusual decision. It didn't involve any federal law whatsoever and last week, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court told the state legislature, you have to redraw these maps. It violates its our state constitution. And of course, the Republicans said, "Well, we're going to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court." And the U.S. Supreme Court said, "No, we're not going to touch it."

What that means is that it's supposed to be a fast-track process where the Pennsylvania legislature is supposed to come up with new maps. And if they don't come up with new maps, then the state Supreme Court is going to have an expert – this Stanford law professor – draw the maps. And what we've seen so far – and this is what's been the pattern every other state in recent years: The Republicans have been told to redraw the maps. They're dragging their feet. They're ignoring court deadlines and they're just trying to drag out the process so that the maps that they drew initially just hold through the next election. So, it'll be really interesting to see what happens literally, in the next couple of weeks. Because it looks like the state Supreme Court in Pennsylvania is going to step on the Republicans and draw maps because they're not going to do it – "they" being the Republican legislators.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Summarize for our listeners what are the important cases that Supreme Court will hear in the coming months that will determine whether or not we see an end to this extreme partisan gerrymandering?

STEVEN ROSENFELD: Well, the biggest case comes out of Wisconsin and it concerns the state legislature. And there, the question is whether they are going to accept the standard based on what they call "wasted votes." And it's for the entire legislature, so it's not just a couple of seats. The next one that's big, the Republicans set a case where there was the one example of a Democratic gerrymander. It was in Maryland and it concerned one congressional seat; it wasn't the entire state delegation.

The next ones that come out that are really big are in Texas – there's the use of race to create the congressional districts there. But they're probably not going to issue a decision until late in the spring, which means it won't affect 2018. And the same thing is true with North Carolina, where, once again the Republican legislature was ordered by a federal court to redraw the maps and they refused, and the Supreme Court said, "OK, we'll finally take the case." So that means it freezes it.

So those are the big ones. The lower courts in North Carolina said the Republicans went after voters by race with surgical precision. That was their quote. So this what we're dealing with here.

BETWEEN THE LINES: What are the critical factors, you think at play here? I think you summarized many of them. But if you had to distill it down, what will determine if we're going to have some even playing fields in the future of American politics or whether we're going to have this rigged system for many years to come? Is it the will of progressive activists? I mean, is it courts? Is it money? What do you think it is?

STEVEN ROSENFELD: That's a really great question. I think this gerrymandering thing and map drawing is a really big thing because it's not the elephant in the living room. It's the living room. If the Republicans have a built in 6 to 8 point advantage – and these statistics just come from me, they come from the best statisticians in academics – that's a very high wall to get over. And then it becomes a question of voter turnout and the blue states, the red states, they might as well be different countries.

It's very hard to get people to register and to turn out and to vote in a lot of these red states. It's not the same as a lot of the blue states. But once again, it comes down to voter turnout on Election Day and then hoping that the process is transparent enough, so if it's close, the ballots can be verified, the vote can be verified. That's all we've got. I've been around this kind of politics for decades and this is what it basically comes back down to.

Steven Rosenfeld's forthcoming book is "Democracy Betrayed."