HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R-Centre/Mifflin) released the following statement after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a Per Curiam order approving the state reapportionment plan:
“Today’s order reflects the Pennsylvania Supreme Court majority’s continued shift from a fair arbiter of fact and law to a rubber stamp for liberal special interests and left-wing partisan political positions.
“From the start, as a commissioner on the Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission, all I asked was for the chairman and other commission members to join me in prioritizing transparency and the traditional, neutral and constitutional redistricting criteria over partisan interest.
“Unfortunately, neither Chairman Mark Nordenberg nor the other Democrat commissioners followed that path. Today, the majority on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court joined their ranks in subordinating the Pennsylvania Constitution, past court precedent, and basic fairness to the stated desire to hijack the state redistricting process to artificially create a Democrat majority in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives through deliberate racial and political gerrymandering.
“To make matters worse this was accomplished in a way that negatively impacts the ability of minority groups to elect someone from their community that accurately represents them. For example, as explained in the amicus brief filed by LatinoJustice PRLDEF and MRPA concerning the final House Plan, the ‘splitting of Allentown into three house districts’ dilutes the voting capacity of Latinos and is ‘legally and morally unacceptable.’
“As we look ahead, we are continuing to examine the next steps in our remaining legal options and are not foreclosing any possibility to ensure Pennsylvanians get a fair plan that accurately reflects them in the Pennsylvania General Assembly.”