6
RUCHO v. COMMON CAUSE
Opinion of the Court
voters out of the Sixth District and moving 350,000 new
voters in. Overall, the Plan reduced the number of registered Republicans in the Sixth District by about 66,000
and increased the number of registered Democrats by
about 24,000. Id., at 499–501. The map was adopted by a
party-line vote. Id., at 506. It was used in the 2012 election and succeeded in flipping the Sixth District. A Democrat has held the seat ever since.
In November 2013, three Maryland voters filed this
lawsuit. They alleged that the 2011 Plan violated the
First Amendment, the Elections Clause, and Article I, §2,
of the Constitution. After considerable procedural skirmishing and litigation over preliminary relief, the District
Court entered summary judgment for the plaintiffs. 348
F. Supp. 3d 493. It concluded that the plaintiffs’ claims
were justiciable, and that the Plan violated the First
Amendment by diminishing their “ability to elect their
candidate of choice” because of their party affiliation and
voting history, and by burdening their associational
rights. Id., at 498. On the latter point, the court relied
upon findings that Republicans in the Sixth District “were
burdened in fundraising, attracting volunteers, campaigning, and generating interest in voting in an atmosphere of
general confusion and apathy.” Id., at 524.
The District Court permanently enjoined the State from
using the 2011 Plan and ordered it to promptly adopt a
new plan for the 2020 election. Id., at 525. The defendants appealed directly to this Court under 28 U. S. C.
§1253. We postponed jurisdiction. 586 U. S. ___ (2019).
II
A
Article III of the Constitution limits federal courts to
deciding “Cases” and “Controversies.” We have understood that limitation to mean that federal courts can
address only questions “historically viewed as capable of