Michigan redistricting panel votes to dismiss appeal to U.S. Supreme Court, pay $1.8M to plaintiffs

Michigan's redistricting commission has voted to drop an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court that sought to overturn a lower court ruling that found Metro Detroit maps had been racially gerrymandered.

The commission voted 11-0 to dismiss the appeal Thursday, and also agreed to pay the attorney costs and fees of the Detroit plaintiffs who brought the case challenging the maps.

The plaintiffs' attorney fees, expenses and expert costs amounted to a total of $2.4 million, but the settlement agreed to Thursday would cut that price to about $1.7 million for past costs and a cap of $100,000 for future costs. The condition of the settlement required the commission to dismiss its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"The legal process when a constitutional claim is decided incorporates a claim by the prevailing party for attorney fees to be paid by the opposing party,” the commission's lawyer, David Fink, said. "In this case, the plaintiffs, having prevailed on the initial constitutional claim have a right to seek from the 3-judge panel an award of reasonable attorney fees and expenses.”

Commissioner Anthony Eid noted the agreement not only discounted costs, but also limited future costs related to potential challenges of the Senate map redraw.

"This is quite a substantial savings," Eid said.

Commissioners Rhonda Lange and Rebecca Szetela supported dropping the appeal, arguing it shouldn't have been filed in the first place.

"I was against the appeal from the beginning," Lange said. "I think we should do it and make right what is wrong.”

Plaintiffs' costs would be paid out of the redistricting commission's annual, taxpayer-funded budget. The commission would be unable to pay the costs with existing funds and would need to ask the Legislature for additional money.

The development drew criticism from State Rep. Ann Bollin, R-Brighton.

"The redistricting commission has been treating our tax dollars like Monopoly money," Bollin said in a Thursday night statement. "It’s about time this saga of waste and negligence comes to an end."

The Republican lawmaker called the redistricting commission's settlement “a bitter reminder of their gross mismanagement. It’s a shame that Michigan taxpayers will bear the burden of their mistakes and inefficiency.”

The U.S. Supreme Court in January denied a motion to halt a lower court ruling that ordered the commission to redraw 13 state House and Senate districts in Detroit after finding the districts were drawn with a predominant focus on race.

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who handles cases falling within the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, referred the case to the full court, which denied the request for a stay in the January order.

After the denial, the redistricting commission completed the redraw of 15 House districts that were given final approval by the three-judge panel in March. The panel was made up of Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Raymond Kethledge and federal district court judges Paul Maloney and Janet Neff.

The new House maps will be used in the November House elections.

The commission has started its redraw of the Senate maps ruled unconstitutional. The next Senate election is not until 2026.

The redraw and appeal stem from a December order that found 13 state House and Senate seats in Detroit violated the Equal Protection Clause because they were drawn with race as the predominating factor. Kethledge, Maloney and Neff ordered the 13 districts be redrawn and prohibited the districts from being used in future elections.

They've appointed two special masters to assist in the process. One was appointed to draw separate maps that the judges could use if the commission was unable to draw maps to meet constitutional requirements. A second special master was appointed to review the commission's redrawn maps and make a formal recommendation on approval or rejection to the judges.

The commission estimated in January that the special masters' work — which the commission is tasked with paying — will cost it another $320,000. The special masters' official invoices, however, have not yet been submitted to the commission.

eleblanc@detroitnews.com