“Gerrymandering, the United States Supreme Court, and Michigan’s Constitutional Amendment,” was the topic of WMU-Cooley Law School’s Auburn Hills campus Constitution Day event. Pictured are (front row, left to right) WMU-Cooley students Kathryn Kucyk, Daniell Campbell, and Matthew Smith; along with (back row, left to right) Professor Gerald Tschura, attorney Mark Brewer of Goodman Acker PC, Assistant Dean Lisa Halushka, and Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Michael Warren, co-founder of Patriot Week.org.
– Photo courtesy of WMU-Cooley
Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Michael Warren, co-founder of Patriot Week.org, and attorney Mark Brewer, of Goodman Acker PC, were panelists during Western Michigan University Cooley Law School's Constitution Day discussion "Gerrymandering, the United States Supreme Court, and Michigan's Constitutional Amendment."
During the Sept. 17 presentation, which was sponsored by WMU-Cooley's chapter of the American Constitution Society, Daniel Campbell, who is president of the Aubrun Hills campus' American Constitution Society, introduced the speakers and detailed political and legal issues surrounding voting district gerrymandering.
While Michigan faces changes to how voting districts are created by the use of a Citizen Redistricting Commission, Warren said that the Constitution provides that voting districts are determined by the legislature.
"Having unelected commissioners draw districts you risk breaking down the representative form of government and taking power away from the people," said Warren.
Brewer pointed out that elected officials have a conflict if put in charge of drawing voting district lines.
"Allowing the legislature to determine voting districts presents an inherent conflict of interest, as they have demonstrated they will draw the districts to ensure their reelection."
This year's event marked the 10th anniversary of both the founding of Patriot Week.org and the inaugural event of the Auburn Hills WMU-Cooley chapter of the American Constitution Society.
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