A Spoonful of Sugar: A Response to Professor Fishkin

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-5-2026

Citation / Publisher Attribution

59 Loy. L.A. L. Rev. __ (forthcoming 2026)

Abstract

We are, at the moment, stuck in a partisan gerrymandering race to the bottom. This short Symposium response piece traces how we got here -- even while noting that the gerrymandering could still get significantly worse.  (Nothing in federal law requires districts to be contiguous.)  The piece then reviews Professor Joey Fishkin's Symposium keynote paper, tracing a recommended path out of the mess, and finds much to like.  It closes with a modest critique of two aspects of Professor Fishkin's suggestion: one rooted in pragmatism given that a Congress fueled by partisan hardball will ultimately have to be the body that passes the reform, and one rooted in a concern that the limits of the particular version of judicial review contemplated might be a step too far for the courts to stomach (with good reason).

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