Editorial: Other view raises legal uncertainty

Thursday, April 16, 1998 | 10:41 a.m.

CLARK County commissioners who favor redistricting before the results of the year 2000 census should take seriously an independent legal analysis that raises questions about their rush to judgment.

Scott Wasserman, chief deputy counsel for the Legislature, released an opinion this week that states the County Commission lacks the authority to redraw its political boundaries without using the last national census, which is taken every 10 years. In addition, Wasserman noted that on two different occasions during the 1990s, the Legislature rejected efforts to allow the County Commission to redraw political boundaries using information other than the more accurate Census data. The opinion was issued at the request of Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, who opposes redistricting without using census information.

Because the U.S. Census Bureau could not handle a special request by Clark County, county commissioners decided recklessly last week to go forward with their plans to redraw county election districts. The county will use staff estimates and community input, and hire a consultant to help confirm the demographics and the new boundaries. At its last County Commission meeting, the board also sought an opinion from the attorney general's office on this option.

The attorney general has not yet had an opportunity to weigh in. Even if she gives the County Commission the answer it hopes to receive, the legal analysis provided by the Legislature's legal arm should give commissioners enough reason to reconsider.

To go forward and invite a lawsuit, especially when a case is not air-tight, invites disaster. This isn't any ordinary issue. Setting election district boundaries is serious business. Courts have often intervened when political election boundaries have been gerrymandered to disenfranchise groups of individuals, including minorities. There is nothing wrong with redistricting, it just needs to be done right.