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The writer was a 52nd District Court judge in Novi and assistant state attorney general. He's chief financial officer of the Justice Speakers Institute and a Deadline Detroit contributor.
"Representative government and trial by jury are the heart and lungs of liberty. Without them we have no other fortification against being ridden like horses, fleeced like sheep, worked like cattle and fed and clothed like swine and hounds.”" -- John Adams
By Brian MacKenzie
Our founders believed that there were times when citizens should take the reins of government into their own hands. This form of pure democracy, best exemplified by our jury system, was considered fundamental to our liberty.
The core belief was so prevalent that the denial of the right to a jury trial was listed as one of the causes of the revolution in the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights contains two amendments protecting it. Juries were understood, as Alexander Hamilton stated, to be both a hedge against tyranny and a check on governmental corruption.
We have a chance to build upon the Founders’ concept of a jury, to create something that will stop the corrupt practice of gerrymandering. Modern technology has allowed political insiders, including lobbyists, to undermine our right to select those who serve us by enabling them to pick who we can vote for. As citizens we must once again take up the burden of governing.
A proposed amendment, to the Michigan Constitution (Proposal 2) which is on the November ballot, would create an independent redistricting commission (IRC), which, like a grand jury, would be charged with eliminating the corruption caused by gerrymandering.
As with jurors, the pool of people on the IRC would be chosen at random. The Secretary of State would draw the names of 200 voters from a list of those willing to serve. Sixty of these voters must self-identify as Democrats, 60 more as Republican and the remaining 80 as Independent.
Just as jurors can be removed from a trial if they have already made up their mind or know the parties or witnesses, so too can the citizens seeking to be on the IRC be barred if they were or are an active partisan politician, someone who worked closely for one, or are close family members.
Remove Without Reason
The parties in a jury trial have the right to remove a limited number of jurors without giving a reason. This same rule will apply to IRC candidates. Both the Republican and Democratic leadership of our legislature would have the right to remove up to twenty applicants, ten for each side, without explanation.
Just as a judge uses a blind draw to select jurors, the Secretary of State will randomly select four Republicans, four Democrats and five independents from the remaining applications. These thirteen would serve as the IRC.
Brian MacKenzie
The members of the IRC would be paid, as are jurors, for their service.
Jury trials are public and IRC meetings must be also. One difference is that IRC transparency rules mandate that its deliberations must also be public.
In creating our voting districts, the IRC, like a jury, must examine all the relevant facts and follow the law that is given to them. The laws that they must follow require that districts:
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Have equal population
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Comply with the Voting Rights Act
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Be geographically contiguous
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Reflect the state’s diversity and “communities of interest”
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Not give a disproportionate advantage to any political party
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Not favor or disfavor an incumbent
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Reflect county, city and township boundaries
- Be compact
The IRC will hold at least ten townhall style hearings around the state and listen to the testimony of citizens and experts. Once they have gathered all the facts they will apply the facts to the law. As with a civil jury trial, the decision does not have to be unanimous, but the final judgement must include at least two Democrats, two Republicans and two Independents. This important check prevents any two groups from drawing a map over the objection of all the members of the remaining group, thus balancing the IRC’s actions.
Supreme Court Appeal
Finally, the decision of the IRC on the district maps, as with a jury verdict, can be appealed to the Michigan Supreme Court. If the justices find the map unconstitutional, the IRC must draw a new version.
Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in "Democracy in America" that the jury system in America was pure democracy that “places actual control of society in the hands of the governed, . . . rather than of the government.”
If we are going to protect our representative government from the corruption that flows from gerrymandering we need to once again place actual control of the process in the hands of the governed.
The passage of Proposal 2 will do just that.
