Thread by @mcpli

This is a good thread on the legacy of the Roberts Court on democracy issues - and a timely reminder that the SCOTUS glass has long been half full.

And why, as disappointing as the gerrymandering decision was, no one had all their eggs in the SCOTUS basket. #fairmaps 1/

https://twitter.com/WendyRWeiser/status/1144250964217610241

Indeed, the notion that saving democracy somehow depended solely on a bunch of mostly white, mostly retirement age, mostly HLS and YLS graduates writes out of the story the many amazing things that are happening on the ground. #fairmaps 2/

And as much as I'm sure some were looking forward to writing stories about how Chief Justice Roberts or Justice Kavanaugh were the surprise heroes of the anti-gerrymandering story, there are plenty of real heroes outside the Beltway. #fairmaps 3/

For heroes, you could start with Katie Fahey from Michigan, whose single Facebook post in 2016 started a movement that collected 500K signatures and brought redistricting reform to MI. #fairmaps 4/

Or Catherine Kantor from Utah, who was the tireless driving force behind successful efforts in 2018 to reform redistricting in Utah. #fairmaps 5/

Or, going back a decade, Ellen Freidin from Florida who lead the 2010 campaign to pass a fair districts amendment that forced redraw of the Florida legislature's gerrymandered maps this decade. #fairmaps 6/

(You may be noticing that many of these heroes of the fight against gerrymandering are women.) #fairmaps 7/

Or Catherine Turner from Ohio who tried and failed and tried and failed to pass redistricting reform in that state before succeeding in 2015 and again in 2018. #fairmaps 8/

And I would be completely remiss if I didn't mention, the great Kathay Feng, who was a leader in the efforts to create California's successful independent redistricting commission. #fairmaps 9/

But it's not just activists. A growing number of elected officials also are jumping on the anti-gerrymandering train, including perhaps most prominently the Terminator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger. #fairmaps 10/

And then there are Rep. Marjorie Smith, a Democrat, and Sen. Regina Birdwell, a Republican, who worked together to get redistricting reform through the New Hampshire legislature in 2019. #fairmaps 11/

And collective recognition should go to lawmakers in Virginia who almost unanimously passed a redistricting reform measure earlier this year. #fairmaps 12/ brennancenter.org/blog/bipartisa…

And along with that recognition, a shoutout to the @1VA2021 coalition who helped create the grassroots pressure that was a catalyst for getting that reform done. #fairmaps 13/

@1VA2021 And last but not least, a look at other redistricting reform efforts around the country. #fairmaps 14/ brennancenter.org/analysis/citiz…

@1VA2021 In short, no one has been idly waiting around Chief Justice Roberts and crew to fix our democracy. People have been and are fighting the good fight every day in towns and cities across the country - and winning. #fairmaps 15/

(And apologies. There are so, so many people I could have included on this thread - but it would have stretched to 800 tweets. There is amazing really stuff going on around the country.) #fairmaps 16/