Albert R. Hunt, Columnist

How the Supreme Court Can Soothe U.S. Political Strife

Curbing gerrymandering would encourage politicians to reach across the partisan aisle.

October 15, 2017 at 2:00 PM UTC

Albert R. Hunt is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He was the executive editor of Bloomberg News, before which he was a reporter, bureau chief and executive Washington editor at the Wall Street Journal.

Polarized.
Photographer: Alex Wong/Getty Images

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Political polarization in the U.S. is intense and damaging. The Supreme Court could take a small step to mitigate it by limiting partisan gerrymandering.

Curtailing patently political drawing of districts for the U.S. House of Representatives and state legislatures wouldn't markedly change the partisan composition of either. Under a fair redistricting plan that isn't designed to help one party at the expense of the other, Republicans, who controlled most of the power after the 2010 census, might lose up to 10 House seats. They'd still retain a solid majority. (When Democrats control the levers of power, they act the same way.)