Law Prof. Nate Persily to Oversee Connecticut Redistricting Process

State Legislature Failed to Reach Agreement; State Supreme Court Has New Deadline of Feb. 15

Media : Public Affairs, 212-854-2650 or publicaffairs [a] law.columbia (p) edu

New York, Jan. 5, 2012— Nathaniel Persily , Charles Keller Beekman Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science at Columbia Law School , has been named special master for redistricting by the Connecticut State Supreme Court.

Persily, the director of the Center for Law and Politics at the Law School, is an expert on election law and a frequent practitioner and media commentator in the area. He will oversee the redrawing of Connecticut’s current district map, which was drawn in 2001. A commission in the state legislature was previously responsible for the redistricting, but failed to reach an agreement before its Dec. 21 deadline.

Persily has served as a court-appointed redistricting expert in Georgia, Maryland, and New York. He is the author of “ When Judges Carve Democracies: A Primer on Court-Drawn Redistricting Plans ,” an essay which presents guidelines for courts that undertake to draw their own redistricting plans. As part of his work for Connecticut, he has created a website, DrawCongress.org , where users can see redistricting plans around the country.

The Connecticut State Supreme Court will file a final redistricting plan to Connecticut’s secretary of state no later than Feb. 15, as is constitutionally mandated.
Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, stands at the forefront of legal education and of the law in a global society. Columbia Law School combines traditional strengths in corporate law and financial regulation, international and comparative law, property, contracts, constitutional law, and administrative law with pioneering work in intellectual property, digital technology, tax law and policy, national security, sexuality and gender, and environmental law.

Visit us: www.law.columbia.edu
Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/columbialaw