We strongly urge Representatives to vote against the amendment expected to be offered by Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM) to reduce the proposed budget of the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) and keep it at its FY16 levels. This effort is nothing more than sour grapes from a Member who has had a several interactions with the Office. The OCE has played a critically important role in restoring public credibility of the congressional ethics process. The Pearce amendment should be rejected on a bipartisan basis.

The Florida Supreme Court orders that boundaries of eight of the state’s congressional districts be redrawn. The 5-2 ruling found the map in violation of the Florida State Constitution which was amended by Florida voters in 2010 to prohibit partisan gerrymanders.  

Ginsburg, delivered the opinion of the court, in which Kennedy, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan joined. Roberts filed a dissenting opinion, in which Scalia, Thomas, and Alito joined. Scalia filed a dissenting opinion, in which Thomas  joined. Thomas filed a dissenting opinion, in which Scalia joined. The judgment of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona is affirmed.

As the district court found, Plaintiffs and their former attorneys filed this civil rights suit in good faith, alleging violations of the federal and state constitutions and the Voting Rights Act. Only five-and-a-half months later, Plaintiffs moved to dismiss this case without prejudice, and the district court agreed that the record at that time did not support a dismissal with prejudice. This case barely left the starting block before both parties agreed it should be dismissed, and the fact that two years later it is still the subject of court proceedings leaves one wondering “how did we get here?” 

Supreme Court decision. The judgment of the Supreme Court of North Carolina is affirmed.